In love and war
by Kakis
Summary: Fic is now edited and reposted. Bill, Charlie, girls, pyramids and dragons. What can possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sitting on her broom some 30 meters above the ground, Louise Malone looked down at the scenery beneath her. Hidden between high mountains was the dragon reserve that she had searched for during the past two days. She slowly descended, landing with a soft thud on the ground. Gathering her broom and two suitcases, she prepared to do what she had come there for.

As she entered the reserve, she was met by many different smells and sounds. Dragons roared and breathed hot fire that made the air quiver, chains rustled, people talked, shouted orders, and laughed. Feeling completely lost, Louise looked around to see if there was anyone near to ask for directions.

A tall, blond wizard dressed in a brown robe approached her. "Can I help you?"

"Yes please. I'm looking for someone in charge of the staff."

"Well... what country are you from?"

"Ireland."

"Then you have to talk to Walter Preston. I'll help you look for him, follow me please."

Louise followed the blond wizard, and during their walk he asked her a little about herself and why she wanted a job at the reserve. Louise answered as best as she could, hoping that she didn't make a complete fool of herself.

Suddenly the wizard stopped. "There he is. Walter!"

A short wizard with a round, kind face, brown hair and bushy eyebrows turned around as they approached him.

"Walter, you've got a visitor. She's looking for a job."

They shook hands, and Walter took Louise to an office-building nearby. His office was quite small, and he sat down in a comfortable-looking chair behind his desk before motioning towards the chair standing on the other side. "Please, sit down."

Louise sat down. For the next half an hour Walter interviewed her and told her about the reserve, and he finally asked when she could start working.

"Right now, if I'm needed," Louise answered and motioned towards her bags. "I've got everything with me."

"Good, we could really use another pair of arms. How about you start Monday?"

"That'll be fine." Then she had two days to have a look around and get to know the ones she would work with.

"Let's get you settled then, but first I'll give you a tour of the part of the reserve where you'll be working." Walter rose and beckoned Louise to follow him. "Everyone's got his or her own room," he said as they stepped outside again. "The men sleep there," he pointed towards a long barrack to the left of them that lay beside the nearest enclosures, "and the women sleep over there." A similar looking barrack, beside the one where the men slept. "Come, I'll show you your room. Then you can leave your luggage before we continue the tour."

They entered the barrack where the girls apparently had their rooms, and Walter walked ahead of Louise to a door in the middle of a row of green painted doors. The walls in the corridor were painted off-white, she noted as she looked around. No one else was there, and as Walter held the door to her new home open she stepped inside. The room was small, but Louise liked it. The walls had the same shade of off-white as the walls in the corridor, and there was a bed, a small wardrobe, a low shelf, a desk, and a chair.

"There are showers and toilets further down in the corridor," Walter explained. "There are signs on them, so you can't miss them. So, this room will be yours from now on. It's not much, I'm afraid."

Louise looked around again. "That doesn't matter. I mean, I'm just going to sleep here."

"You're right. Now, let's just put your bags in here, and I will show you the rest of the British part of the reserve."

'The British part of the resreve' turned out to be quite big. The enclosures held one dragon each, and around the enclosures people were working. They stopped a number of times, and Walter introduced Louise to people he said worked in what apparently would be her team. Soon names and faces were whirling around in her head, and she wondered how she would be able to remember a single of her new co-workers names.

When they came to the dining hall, a large room with white walls and furniture made of wood, Walter told Louise about the eating hours. Breakfast was served between six and nine, lunch between twelve and two and dinner between five and seven.

After showing her the dining hall, Walter had to go back to work. Before dropping her off at the barracs he suggested that Louise could walk around and have a look at the dragons and maybe talk to the others who worked there during the rest of the day. Then she should get to know the surroundings and her co-workers a little better before she started working.

After giving her shoulder a squeez he hurriedly made his departure, and Louise walked back to her room to unpack. Not that she had much luggage with her, but she thought that it was better to do the unpacking first thing and not wait until later. She quickly unpacked, and decided that it was time to go and have another look at the dragons and the people she would work with.

When she had strolled around most of 'her' part of the reserve, Louise looked at her watch. A quarter to five; that meant that it was close to dinnertime. She was hungry, and hurried back to the dining hall. Upon approaching it she spotted Walter, and walked up to him.

"Hi!" he greeted her. "How are things going?"

"Just fine thanks. I've been walking around by myself, taking a look at the reserve."

"That's a good start." At that moment Walter caught sight of someone, and waved. "Weasley! Come here! I have someone I want you to meet!"

So far it had been a regular day for dragon keeper Charles Weasley. His days consisted of taking care of some of the dragons at the large dragon reserve where he worked, and this day had not been any different.

He had worked at the reserve since he was nineteen years old. He had always been fascinated with dragons, something he had in common with Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The two of them had become friends during Charlie's seven years at school, and Hagrid had gladly taught him everything he knew about dragons.

After graduating from Hogwarts, many had thought that Charlie would chose to play Quidditch professionally, but instead he had moved to Romania to study dragons. Even if he sometimes missed Quidditch he knew that this was what he wanted to do, and now he worked as a dragon caretaker.

Now he was on his way to have dinner, and even if the food at the reserve was quite good, he still missed his mother's cooking. At the thought of his mother he smiled. He really admired her. She had raised Charlie and his six siblings, and sometimes Charlie wondered how she had managed taking care of all seven of them.

"Weasley, come here! I have someone I want you to meet!"

Charlie recognized his boss's voice, and saw him standing by the entrance to the dining hall. Charlie waved and made his way over to him and a girl that stood beside him; a short girl with brown hair that came down to her shoulders.

"Louise this is Charlie, Charlie this is Louise. She just got hired." Walter said as Charlie stopped in front of him and the unfamiliar girl.

"Hi, nice meeting you. And please don't call me Mr. Weasley, it just makes me feel old. Call me Charlie." He smiled at Louise and extended his hand, which he shook and gave him a tentative smile.

Walter turned to Louise. "Charlie is on the team you'll be on. Why don't you join us for dinner, then Charlie can fill you in on the things I've forgotten to mention. I'm sure there is more I should have told you, but my mind works slower than it did when I was young."

"That's old news, I've known that for ages." Charlie remarked, grinning mischievously at his boss.

"Charlie, don't make a fool of me in front of Louise, now," Walter admonished. "Well, shall we eat?"

Nicole Rogers was standing in line at the airport, waiting to check in. She was going to Egypt, to visit her aunt Christine and her husband Mike. They owned a restaurant in Cairo, and had offered Nikki a job. Since she was currently unemployed she had said yes, and now she was soon to border the plane that would taker from Manchester, England to Cairo, Egypt.

"Nikki, are you really sure about this?" her mum Rachel asked for what had to the umpteenth time. "I mean, Egypt..."

"Yes Mum, I am going. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing in line at an airport at this moment, would I?" Nikki said patiently, for what also had to be the umpteenth time. "I'll be fine, Christine and Mike will look after me."

At the thought of her sister, Rachel smiled. "Yes, you're right. But I still don't understand why she moved to Egypt. Of all places she had to chose Cairo."

"I think it's cool," Nikki stated. "To meet a guy and move with him to a country you've never even been to after four months."

Rachel did not look as approving. As much as she loved her younger sister it was quite clear o Nikki that she had never really understood why Christine had left everything she had in England to move to her new boyfriend who lived in Egypt.

"Well, have you got everything? Tickets? Passport? Money?"

"Yes, I've double checked everything." God, was there ever a mum who could be more worried? Whatever Nikki did she was always worried.

"Good, good. Well, I guess I have to go then," Rachel said and gave her daughter a hug.

"Give my best to Dad," Nikki said as she gave her ticket to the girl at the counter outside the gate.

"I will. And promise you'll give us a call when you get there."

"Yes Mum, I will."

"Bye, take care."

One more hug before Rachel made her way through the crowd. Nikki concentrated on the line, and soon it was her turn to check in. Now she finally was on her way. She was really looking forward to see something else than boring old Manchester, and saw this as an opportunity to meet new people.

During the flight Nikki read a pocket guide on Cairo and Egypt that she had purchased. She knew that her Aunt lived in the outskirts of Cairo, and it seemed to be a really interesting city. Nikki had always been fascinated with the old Egyptians, and she planned on visiting the Cairo Museum to see all the mummies and other stuff from the pyramids. And of course the pyramids themselves.

"Merlin, that was close!" William Weasley collapsed on the ground outside the pyramid, panting heavily. His shoulder-long, red hair used to be pulled back into a ponytail, but now sweaty strands of it were stuck to his also sweaty forehead, and the rest of it hung loosely around his shoulders. Sometimes, like at this moment, he wondered why he had become a curse breaker in the first place, but mostly it was an interesting job.

"That bloody pharaoh sure knew how to protect himself," his co-worker Yasmin said, and caught her breath yet again before wiping the sweat off her forehead with her robe.

They had been inside the pyramid they were currently seated in front of, trying to break the curses of the pharaoh buried there. Unfortunately they hadn't managed to break all of them. Instead they had to run for their lives.

"I can't believe that Charlie says his job is more risky than this."

"Me neither. I mean, dragons... And you know what? I am definitely going to ask for a rise."

Bill tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't carry him. He rested for a few moments before trying again, and this time he was successful. As he had regained his balance, he bent down and offered Yasmin his hands. She smiled at him, grabbed his hands and let him pull her to her feet. They stood facing each other for a few moments, and Bill felt his stomach turn. She always made him feel that way when she looked at him. He had fancied her for a month now, but for some reason he had not told her yet. He wanted to wait for the right moment, and it never seemed to come his way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Charlie stood outside an enclosure and watched Louise tend to a wounded dragon. She had worked at the reserve for two weeks now, and she did a good job. The only problem was that she didn't open up to anyone. She would talk to him and the others in the team, but yet she kept her distance. Charlie had accepted the fact that she needed time to open up, but at the same time it bothered him. He knew that it was important to know your co-workers; sometimes you had to act fast when there was no time for talking, and at such times it was important to know your co-workers well enough to know that you could trust each other and work well together without needing to talk.

He had decided to take matters into his own hands. Tonight their team would have a party, and now he was going to try and persuade Louise to come. Then she would have an opportunity to talk to him their other co-workers. Satisfied with his decision he entered the enclosure and walked up to her and the dragon.

"Hi. How's it going?"

Louise gasped and turned around.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Charlie apologized.

"That's all right. And she'll be fine. She just needs to rest for a few days."

"Good. Listen, our team is going to have a party tonight, and we would really like you to come. It would be a good opportunity to get to know us better."

Louise hesitated for a few seconds."I don't know..."

"We're hoping you'll come," Charlie said in an attempt to persuade her. "There'll be drink and food and music everything."

"Well... I'm not really in the mood for a party..."

"Tell you what, you've got until seven o' clock. I'll come by your room then to see if you have changed your mind." Charlie looked at his watch. Twelve twenty-five. He was supposed to meet Paul in five minutes; they were going to check on a dragon that had just come to the reserve.

"I've got to go now, but I'll see you at seven." He did not care about that she hesitated; he would make sure that she would come to the party and have a good time.

Louise spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about the conversation with Charlie. She didn't really want to go to the party since she hardly knew anybody. She would probably just end up in a corner all by herself, and that was something she didn't want. Then she'd rather not go to the party at all.

At five minutes to seven there was a knock on her door. She suspected that it was Charlie, and as she opened the door it turned out that she was right. He leaned against the door-frame, smiling at her.

"Hello there! Are you ready?"

"Well, no, not really."

"Look... if you really don't want to it's okay." Charlie's facial expression was suddenly serious. "I'm not forcing you, but we'd really like you to come."

Charlie seemed to tell the truth, and Louise decided to give it a try. If the party turned out to be dull she could just quietly sneak back to her room, as long as she showed up at least for a while.

"All right."

The smile was immediately back on Charlie's face. "Great! Let's go then."

After gathering her keys and locking the door Louise followed Charlie, who led her to the outskirts of the reserve. When they had walked for fifteen minutes he pointed towards a big two-storied house in front of them.

"This is where we have our parties, fancy dinners and such."

Louise followed him inside, and was met by the others in the team. Someone put a glass in her hand containing a drink that tasted of alcohol, and she drank while being pulled by Charlie towars a long table containing food. Soon the party was in full swing, and to her surprise she enjoyed herself. If it was the amount of drinks she consumed or the fact that people talked to her a lot she didn't know, but when Charlie asked her if she regretted that she had come she shook her head.

He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. "That's what I told you! I've got to get some air, you coming?"

"Yeah."

Still with his arm casually wrapped around her shoulders Louise followed Charlie out onto the balcony. He tightened his grip around her when she shivered slightly.

"Cold?"

"A little." The cool air had quickly made its way through her trousers and thin shirt.

He rubbed her back. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She expected him to remove his hand, but instead he let it rest aginst the small of her back. Louise didn't really know what to make of it, but decided not to worry about it. Tonight she was just going to have fun. And, she admitted to herself, it was actually kind of nice.

They remained out on the balcony for a while before rejoining the others inside. At one thirty Louise decided that it was time to go to bed, and she was accompanied by a couple of others back to the barracks. Content she went to bed. Maybe this job wouldn't be so bad after all.

Bill stood in front of his mirror, straightening his clothes.

"Looking very good!" the mirror said approvingly.

"Thanks."

Bill was about to go to a party, and he looked forward to it. Todd, one of his best friends and co workers, had turned 28 and had invited him to his birthday party. However, as much as Bill enjoyed spending time with Todd and his other friends, there was something special that made him look forward to this party. Namely Yasmin. He had decided to make a move tonight.

He took out his wand and apparated to Tod's place. As he arrived he searched for his friend and soon found him talking to a couple of their other co workers.

"Bill! Great to see you man!" Tod exclaimed, handing Bill a bottle of Butterbeer. Bill took it.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Everything's great!" Nods from the others confirmed this. "I'm sorry, but I have to tend to my duties as host of this party. Talk to you later!"

Todd made his way around the room, talking to people along the way. Bill went off in search for Yasmin, and a couple of minutes later he spotted her. She stood in a corner talking to Lars, another co-worker, and Bill let his eyes linger on her for a couple of seconds. She wore a pair of black, tight fitting Muggle trousers and a green top, and her long, black hair was hanging loosely down her back.

Bill made his way towards them, exchanging a few words with a couple of other friends on the way. When he approached his goal Lars and Yasmin noticed him.

"Hey man!" Lars greeted him. "Ready to party?"

"You bet! Cheers!" Bill lifted his Butterbeer-bottle.

"Cheers!" Yasmin and Lars said in unison. They drank and talked for a while before Lars excused himself and left Bill and Yasmin to themselves.

"Want to dance?" Bill asked, silently praying that she would say yes.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," Yasmin replied, and gave him a smile that made butterflies invade Bill's stomach.

Together they made their way into the living room, where Todd had set up a dance floor. People were already dancing, and Bill and Yasmin joined them. They danced for a while, talked to co-workers and drank some more until Yasmin declared that she needed some fresh air. Bill saw his chance, and followed her outside. This was the Moment he had been waiting for. He knew it, and he also knew that he had to make the best of it. He turned to face her.

"You know, I don't really feel like going back inside." And that was true. He had only gone to the party to see her, and now that she was with him out there he couldn't care less about dancing, drinking and spending time with their other co-workers.

"Why not?"

"I don't know... I didn't really want to come here in the first place."

"William Weasley, you surprise me. You're not the one to turn down a good party."

"Maybe not. But right now I just don't feel like partying."

"Want to go somewhere?" Yasmin still looked out over the city, not at him.

"Do you have any place special in mind?"

"No. Do you?"

_Yes, your place or mine._ "No, not really."

"Have you been to Muggle Cairo a lot?"

"No, I can't say that I have."

"Then let's go."

Bill let Yasmin lead the way as they made their way downtown. "Do you know a lot about Muggle Cairo?"

"Quite a few things actually. I'm Muggleborn, remember."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

They spent the next two hours strolling around Cairo. Yasmin showed Bill lots of interesting places, and he really enjoyed himself. He had waited for a chance to be alone with her, and now when it had come he didn't want the night to end.

"I've got one last thing to show you," Yasmin said, and grabbed his hand. Bill had no idea where they were going, but he did not complain. If this last thing involved holding hands he would be the last one to protest.

Yasmin took him with her to a park. Bill didn't even know that there was a park in the middle of the city.

"I come here when I need to think," Yasmin said, sitting down under a large tree.

Bill sat down beside her. "It's a good thinking spot," he agreed.

It was so peaceful. Even though he could hear the sounds from the city it somehow seemed as if he and Yasmin were the only two people in the world. They were completely alone in the park, and Bill looked at the woman beside him. She sat with her eyes closed and a small smile on her lips, and Bill slowly raised his right hand and caressed her cheek. Yasmin opened her eyes, her smile suddenly gone.

The next thing he knew Yasmin took hold of his hand, and Bill laced fingers with her. As in slow motion he saw her move closer to him, and suddenly her lips brushed against his. Bill put his free arm around her waist, and she put an arm around his neck. Deepening the kiss she lay down on the grass and pulled him with her, and they spent a few minutes just kissing. Bill could have spent the entire night like that, in her arms, but eventually Yasmin broke away.

"I'll never be able to be here without thinking about you from now on. You realise that, don't you?"

"Is that good or bad?"

Yasmin smiled. "Definitely good," she said and kissed him again.

Half an hour later they decided that it was time to leave the garden. Hand in hand they strolled through Cairo once again, and Bill wondered what would happen now. Did she want to spend the rest of the night with him? Should he ask?

Soon they were standing outside his house.

"So..." said, not letting go of his hand, "I guess this is you."

"So it seems."

"I better go. I've had a great time, and I don't want to spoil it."

Bill was about to protest and say that it would not spoil the night if she followed him inside, but apparently she had made up her mind.

She kissed his left cheek. "Would you like to have a drink or something after work on Monday?"

"I'd love to." It came out a little more enthusiastically than Bill had intended it to, but that didn't matter.

"See you on Monday then. Good night."

"Good night." Bill hugged her and was about to give her a goodnight kiss, but she was too quick for him. She gave him a peck on the lips before disentangling herself.

"See you," she said before disapparating with a crack.

"See you." Bill turned and walked towards his tent. He had really had a great time tonight, and if she had wanted to he would have loved to take her home.

Nikki had worked at the restaurant for a couple of weeks. She had learned the routines, and liked the job. Of course the hours weren't really friendly, but it was worth it. Mostly she slept until ten or eleven, wich made up for the late nights. And she enjoyed her job. It was different from anything she had done before, and a great experience. Besides, Mike and Christine had begun to teach her Arabic.

Now it was afternoon, and Nikki helped Mike to prepare for that night's guests.

"Nikki, could you run down to the market?" Mike asked. "We need more vegetables."

"Yes, sir!" Nikki said, saluting.

Mike laughed and handed her some money, and Nikki went to get the needed vegetables. There were a lot of people in the streets, and she zigzagged her way through the crowd. Now there was just one street corner to turn before she would be at the market place, and... She collided with someone coming from the opposite direction. Nikki fell and landed on her back.

"I'm so sorry, are you all right?"

Nikki looked up to see who had caused her to fall. A young man hunched beside her, looking genuinely concerned, and that made her forget about what she was going to say to whoever it was who had knocked her to the ground.

"I'm fine."

He rose and extended a hand. "Here, let me help you."

Nikki took it, and he helped her to her feet. "Thanks." Now she had a chance to look more closely at this young man. He was definitely good looking, she decided that right away. The first thing she noticed was that he was tall; his red hair was pulled back into a ponytail; he wore clothes that could fit a rock star and an earring that looked like some sort of tooth. Nikki decided that it must be a sharks tooth.

"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry and I didn't pay any attention to where I was going," he apologized again. "You're not hurt?"

"No, I'm okay. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, nothing broken."

"Good. And thanks for helping me up."

"Don't mention it. By the way, what's your name?"

"Nicole."

"It was nice talking to you, Nicole. Maybe we'll see each other again."

"Yeah, maybe we will. Take care."

"You too."

They smiled briefly at each other before walking in opposite directions. Nikki doubted that they would ever see each other again, but it had been kind of him to stop and make sure that she was okay.

That night the restaurant had its usual amount of guests that could be expected on a Friday night. Nikki hurried to and fro between the kitchen and the eating area. Sometimes she would like a Friday or Saturday night off, but she worked at weekends since the restaurant had more guests then than during weekdays.

"Nikki, could you find a table for those guests please," Mike said, pointing to a company that had just entered the restaurant. Nikki hurried over to them, and spotted a tall guy with red hair pulled back into a ponytail. Briefly she wondered where she had seen him before, but then she realised that it was the guy who had knocked her over earlier that afternoon.

"Welcome, a table for seven?"

"Yes please please," one of the girls answered.

"Follow me please."

Nikki showed them to a table, and as they sat down the red-haired guy with the ponytail turned to her and smiled apologetically. "Hi, I thought I recognized you. Sorry for what happened earlier."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not upset," Nikki answered, returning the smile. "I'll be right back with your menus."

She handed them one menu each, and soon they were ready to order. Nikki brought them their food as well, and sneaked glances at the guy from time to time. It was hard not to look at him. His clothes, the earring, the ponytail... everything about him made her look twice.

He and his friends seemed to have great time. Nikki could hear laughter from their table, and she wondered what they were talking about. Unfortunately they talked in hushed voices, heads closely together, so it was impossible to hear what they were discussing.

A couple of hours later they asked for the check. As they were about to leave Bill said something to the others, who smiled and left. Then Bill approached Nikki.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Oh, just fine."

"Listen... I know this sounds strange, but I'm really sorry about knocking you over like that, and I was wondering if I could make it up to you. Would you like to go out for a drink or something? My treat, of course."

At first Nikki said nothing. Was this man asking her out for a drink just because they had collided in the street earlier?

"Hold on... I don't even know your name."

He quickly extended his hand. "Sorry. Bill Weasley."

She shook it. "Nice to meet you, Mr Weasley."

"It's Bill. And you're Nicole?"

"Nikki Rogers."

"Nice to meet you, Nikki. Look, I'm sorry for asking. I understand if you dont want to, but I just thoughd I'd ask."

Nikki looked at the man in front of her. She really shouldn't accept, but looking into his eyes she decided that she wanted to go out for a drink with him. Something about those eyes made her trust him.

"That would be nice. Although you don't have to do this."

"I know, but... So, when would be a good time for you?"

"I don't know. I'll ask my Aunt if I can take a night off. How about Tuesday next week?"

"That would be great."

"Let me just go ask my Aunt, wait here."

Nikki went off in search of Aunt Christine and found her in the kitchen. "Aunt Christine... do you think I can take Tuesday night off? I've been asked out on a date."

"By who? When?"

"Just now, by one of the guests. You know, the tall red haired guy who knocked me over earlier today. He wants to take me out for a drink to make it up to me."

"You can take the night off, we don't have that much to do on Tuesdays anyway."

"Thanks!" Nikki hugged her Aunt before returning to Bill.

"Tuesday is okay," she told him.

"Great! How about I pick you up at your house at, say, eight o'clock?"

Nikki did not really want to tell him the address. Who knew what he could do once he knew where she lived. "Why don't we meet outside the restaurant? Would that be okay?"

"Okay, then I'll be here on Tuesday, at eight o' clock," Bill promised. "See you then."

"See you."

Nikki watched him turn and walk out. Eight o' clock on Tuesday. She didn't really know why she had accepted. She normally did not date guys she didn't know, but what was it about Bill Weasley that that made her break that rule?

Charlie sat down at the desk in his room, grabbed a piece of parchment and dipped his quill in

ink. Just then he was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"It's open!"

The door swung open, and Louise appeared in the doorway. Since the party she had come to his room a couple of times just to chat, and Charlie was satisfied with the way things had progressed. She seemed less shy, and talked more to him and their co-workers.

"Hi. Are you busy, or can I come in?"

"No, make yourself at home. I was just writing my report, but that can wait."

"Are you sure? If you need to do that I can go again."

"No, it's okay, really. I can finish it tomorrow. Now come in and have a seat."

Louise stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She sat down on the bed, and Charlie remained in the chair by the desk.

"Did you want anything?" he asked.

"No, I just... I was bored, and I thought... I hoped you wouldn't mind if I came by."

"No, of course not. Otherwise I would be stuck with this boring report."

He was rewarded by a small smile.

An hour and a half passed before they decided to call it a day. Charlie laughed when Louise yawned and stretched.

"Tired?"

"I had planned to go to bed an hour ago. Shame on you to keep me awake like this."

"You were the one who came and knocked on my door, no the other way around," Charlie pointed out.

"So does that mean shame on me instead?"

"Definitely. Now go to bed, and sleep well."

"Goodnight, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

"So you asked her out for a drink just because you had knocked her over earlier that day?"

"Yes! And now I don't even know why! An apology would have been enough, but I still asked her out for a drink. Even though I have the hots for Yasmin!"

It was Saturday, and Bill was telling Tod about Nikki. The two friends were on their way from Bill's place to Tod's, where they were to meet a couple of friends. They had planned to have an all boys night, and Bill looked forward to it.

"Well, as long as you and Nikki are just friends I don't think that there will be a problem. It's not like you're going to marry her or something," Tim said.

"No. Anyway, don't tell Yasmin about it. I don't want her to get upset."

"I won't. So what does this mysterious Muggle girl look like?"

"She is quite tall, and she's got blond hair with red highlights and a big, friendly smile. She looks really good." Bill had never been good at describing people, but did his best.

Tod grinned. "Now I know why you asked her out for a drink."

Bill raised his eyebrows. "Is that all you think about?"

"As a matter of fact it is."

"I'm glad I'm not a girl. I don't have to have you drooling all over me."

"Don't be too sure about that. I might find out that I prefer men and fall deeply in love with you."

"Then I'll just have to deal with that when the time comes."

Tod put an arm around Bill's shoulders. "Well... the thing is... the time has already come."

Laughing the two men walked on, and a couple of minutes later they stood outside Tim's tent.

Nikki was on the phone with her best friend, Charlotte. She was allowed to call her family and friends if she paid for the amount of time she spent on the phone, and now she really needed someone to talk to. She knew that the call would be expensive, but she just had to tell someone about her meeting with the mysterious Bill Weasley.

"So you just accepted when this guy you don't know at all asked you out for a drink?" Charlotte asked. Nikki could hear that she was shocked.

"Yes! And you know I've never done something like that before! I don't know what got into me. If it was that I was so surprised or something."

"Well... just be careful. And he did seem nice, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. And did I mention he's good-looking?"

The girls giggled.

"Just make sure that you don't follow him home or something," Charlotte warned.

"No Mother, I won't."

"There's a good girl. Listen, I have to go, but I want a report after your date. Okay?"

"I'll make sure you'll get one. Bye."

"Bye, take care."

"I will. Bye."

Nikki hung up and went upstairs to her room. Talking to Charlotte didn't help very much since she still didn't know why exactly she had said yes when Bill asked her out for a drink. The old Nikki wouldn't have accepted an offer like that from someone she didn't know, but somehow Bill had been different. She couldn't pinpoint why, he just was. And besides, she would not spend any time alone with him. She reckoned that it would be safe if she made sure that there were a lot of people around.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bill and Yasmin walked hand in hand, chatting happily and looking very much like a couple in love. It was Sunday night. They had been on a date, and now they were on their way to Bill's place.

In Bill's opinion, the date had gone well. He had taken Yasmin out to dinner, and afterwards they had gone back to the park Yasmin had taken him to after the party at Todd's. There they had spent half an hour kissing, and now Bill hoped for things to become more ... well, intimate.

Soon they were standing in front of his house, and Bill let Yasmin entered before him. Luckily he had cleaned the place up that morning. It consisted of a living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

While Bill went into the kitchen as Yasmin disappeared into the living room, presumably to have a look around.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bill asked. "I've got water, pumpkin juice and Butterbeer."

"Water please."

Bill filled two glasses and took them with him into the living room. Yasmin was looking at the picture of his family he kept on the bookshelf as he handed her the glass and positioned himself behind her.

"Is this your family?"

"Yup. Mum and Dad, Molly and Arthur. Then there's Percy, Ron, Charlie, Ginny, Fred and George. And me." Bill pointed at each of the family members in turn.

"You can tell from the red hair that you're family."

"That's the Weasley trademark, I'm afraid."

Yasmin turned and faced him. "I definitely like that trademark," she said before wrapping her arms around his waist.

Bill took that as a sign that he permitted to do the same thing. Yasmin put her head on his shoulder, and Bill buried his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.

She looked up at him. "You know what?"

"What?" was all he had time to say before she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Bill responded to the kiss. Somewhere at the back of his mind a little voice said that he should take Yasmin to the bedroom, and he obeyed. She didn't protest, and they ended up on his bed. Where quickly removed each other's clothes. A thought that this could turn out to be a very interesting night went through Bill's head before Yasmin suddenly drew back.

"Sorry," she said. "It's not that I don't like you, but I don't want us to rush things."

"It's okay, I understand." Bill had hoped for more, but if Yasmin did not want to go any further he was okay with that.

"I'd still like to stay though."

Bill put his arms around her, holding her close. "You know what? I was hoping that you'd say that."

Yasmin smiled and wrapped her free arm around his waist. "At least there's something we agree on."

Louise had just handed in her weekly report at the main office, and she was approaching the barracks when she saw a light in Charlie's window. Something made her want to go and ask if he felt like taking a walk or something, but she decided against it. He was probably busy.

Still thinking about Charlie, she continued to her room. She liked him. In fact, she liked him a lot. She was not in love, but he was kind, considerate and funny; not to mention good looking. What girl in her right mind wouldn't want such a boyfriend? Louise would have loved such a boyfriend, but she had long since given up on love. It had come her way a number of times, but it had always managed to hurt her in one way or another.

As a result of that, she had promised herself to not become involved with another guy; they only caused trouble. Besides, she didn't think that he was interested in her. A guy like him could, without a doubt, have any girl he wanted, and why then would he want her?

That thought was depressing. It was not fair! Why was she so unlucky in love? Did she deserve it? She answered the question herself; no. Somewhere she still had some self-esteem left, and it told her that she deserved to be much better off than she had been for the better part of her life. Like now. She liked her job, and she had made several good friends. Maybe things would be better from now on.

Charlie was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall. He was accompanied two of his best friends, Evan and Stuart. The topic of discussion for the moment was girls, and Charlie had complained about being single.

"What about Louise?" Evan asked.

"Louise?"

"Yes, Louise. It's obvious that you two fancy each other."

Of course Charlie liked Louise. They were friends, and he enjoyed spending time with her.

"We're friends," was all he could think of saying.

Stuart and Evan looked at Charlie and then at each other as if they both were thinking, _'Yeah, right.'_.

"You know that it's amusing when you deny that you have feelings for her, don't you?" Stuart pointed out.

"Well, it just so happens that I don't," Charlie retorted.

"Yes you do."

"No I don't. We're friends."

"If you say so." Evan didn't sound convinced. "But listen, we must go back to what we were talking about. Where do we put the new Swedish Shortsnout? She'll arrive tomorrow, and we don't have any enclosure ready."

"Walter told me that one of the dragons on the Spaniards' area died yesterday, and he said that we can move her enclosure to our area," Stuart said.

"Great." Charlie was happy to talk about anything else but Louise. He didn't like when his friends insinuated that he was in love with her, because he was not. She was a friend, nothing else. "When do we do it?"

"Tomorrow. But first we have to decide where to put it."

"We can do that tomorrow too," Charlie suggested. "How about directly after breakfast?"

Evan and Walter nodded.

"Well, that's settled then," Evan said. "I'll ask Louise to join us." He grinned and looked at Charlie, who just pulled a face at him. He liked to spend time with her, there was nothing else to it than that; he just didn'thave the energy to start arguing with Evan and Stuart about it.

Since Bill had asked her out on a date, Nikki had plenty of time to think about what she was getting herself into. What a stupid thing to do really. It was almost like going on a blind date, except she knew what the guy looked like. _At least he is good looking,_ she thought to herself, smiling.

Bill wouldn't be the first guy to date Nikki. She knew that some people at home regarded her as somewhat sluttish, but she was not. She liked to date, but that did not mean that she slept with each and every one of the guys, like some people seemed to think.

That was part of why she had chosen to take Aunt Christine and Mike up on their offer. She was fed up with people talking about her behind her back, and she had known that it would do her good to move somewhere new. Nobody in Cairo, except Aunt Christine, knew her, and Nikki liked it that way even though she attracted attention because of her blond hair and fair skin.

Tuesday, the day when Bill was going on his date with Nikki. At work he was able to keep his thoughts off her, but as time slowly approached eight o'clock he became nervous. He was used to dating, but this was his very first date with a Muggle girl.

At seven fifty-five Bill Apparated to the street where the restaurant was located. He slowly walked towards the familiar sign hanging above the door, and when standing outside the restaurant he looked around to see if he could see Nikki anywhere.

Suddenly she stood right in front of him, smiling.

"Hi. Are you ready to go?"

Bill smiled back. "Yes, I am."

"So, where are we going?"

"I thought I'd leave that for you to decide."

"Oh, what a gentleman. Then I know just the place."

"Let's go there then."

Ten minutes later they stopped in front of a pub.

"You ever been here?" Nikki asked.

"No, never," Bill replied, peering through one of the windows.

"Come on then."

Bill followed her inside, and was greeted by all the familiar sounds of a pub. People who talked and laughed, clinking glasses. People looked at them as they made their way towards a table, and Bill hoped that it was because they were Westerners and not because they sensed that he was different.

"So, what can I get you?" he asked as he pulled out Nikki's chair for her.

"Oh, thank you," she said and sat down. "A beer please."

"One beer coming up."

Bill headed for the bar. Beer... That must be like Butterbeer, he decided, and ordered one for himself as well. It would be something to tell his father. His father loved all things Muggle, and would be delighted if Bill told him that he had tried Muggle beer.

Once back at the table Bill sat down across from Nikki, and he soon found out that Muggle beer did not taste like Butterbeer. He liked it all the same, and ordered one more once he had finished his first glass. Nikki also wanted another one, and after two more beers they decided that they had had enough to drink since they had to work the next day.

It was twelve o'clock when Bill looked at a clock behind the bar.

"I'm so sorry, but I must go. I have to get up early tomorrow."

Nikki glanced at her watch. "You don't have to apologize, but do you think that you see me home before you go? I don't really like to be out by myself at this time of night."

"Of course."

On their way back to Nikki's they didn't talk very much. When they stood outside her house, Nikki was the one to break the silence.

"Thanks for everything. I've had a great time."

"Me too." "I was just wondering, would you like to go out for a beer again? Or just have dinner somewhere?"

Bill was surprised, but happy that she asked. "I'd love to!"

"Great! When?"

"How about Saturday?"

"That'll be fine. I don't think that I can take another night off from work this week, so do you think that we could meet sometime during the day?"

"Of course. How about ten AM? Are you awake then?"

"I should be. So, where do we meet?"

"Outside the restaurant again?" Bill suggested.

"Okay. Well, I don't want to keep you since you have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight, see you on Saturday."

Nikki gave him a hug, and Bill hugged her back.

"Goodnight, see you," he said before letting go.

He watched her as she walked towards the house. He hadn't really planned on going on another date with her, but without hesitation he agreed to when she asked if he wanted to see her again. In fact he wanted to see her again, and he ignored the guilt he suddenly felt. He had stronger feelings for Yasmin, so it was unnecessary to tell her about Nikki.

Saturday arrived. Nikki was looking forward to the date with Bill, and smiled to herself as she caught sight of him standing outside the restaurant.

"Hi, have you been waiting long?" she asked, hugging him.

"No, just a couple of minutes."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, since I'm not that familiar with... Cairo. Why don't you give me a tour?" Bill had almost said 'Muggle Cairo' but stopped himself just in time.

"I'm new to the city as well," Nikki confessed. "We can play tourists. I don't have a map, but we can explore the city anyway."

Bill agreed, and before lunch they had a look at a couple of churches and squares and other cultural things. When they were tired of being cultural, they had a late lunch at a small restaurant in the outskirts of Cairo, and when they had left the restaurant Nikki heard a strange sound from above. Looking up she saw a brown owl flying towards them, and she frowned. She didn't know whether owls were supposed to exist in Egypt, but she did know that they were nocturnal animals. She pointed at the owl.

"Look!"

"Bloody hell! Not now! I'll kill him!" Bill silently cursed.

The owl landed beside him, and held out one of its legs. Bill hastily bent down and untied something attached to it before the animal took off again.

Nikki watched all this, confused. What was this? Owls delivering pieces of paper? Bill, who looked as if this happened on a daily basis, unfolded the paper and read the writing on it.

"And this couldn't wait?" he muttered, clearly annoyed.

Nikki was by now feeling very confused. "What was that?"

Bill stood motionless and silent for a few moments. Then he sat down under a tree and patted the ground beside him. "Sit down, this might take a while."

Nikki sat down, not knowing what to expect. Bill seemed almost scared, not sure of what to say. What was he going to tell her? As she prepared for the worst Bill took a deep breath.

"Just let me finish before you say something. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't really know how to tell you this ..."

_Say it already!_ a little voice inside Nikki screamed. Whatever it was she wanted to get it over with.

"The thing is..." Bill was now talking to his hands, "that apart from the world you and most people know, there is another."

"What? What do you mean?" What was he talking about? Another world? There was only earth, no one had found life on other planets yet.

"I'm part of this world, or community, or whatever you want to call it. I'm ... I'm a wizard."

Nikki stared at him, not knowing what to think. Wizard? "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke, or what?"

Bill shook his head. "No, it's not," he said calmly.

Nikki's first thought was that this couldn't be true. There was no such thing as witches and wizards. It was impossible!

"I'm sorry, I hadn't planned on telling you like this," Bill continued. "I hope you're not angry at me..."

Angry? No, why should she be? All this was too unreal, she couldn't make up her mind if it was something to be angry about.

"No, but surprised. First I thought it was a joke." Nikki looked around, waiting for someone to jump out of a bush and shout, "Smile, you're on candid camera!" But no one did.

"It's not a joke."

"Can you show me? Do some magic?"

"No, we're not allowed to do magic in front of Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic people."

"Oh, so we've got a name?"

"Yes, in fact you do."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "So, what you say is, there actually are such things as wizards and witches?"

"Yes."

"Then how come I've never seen or heard about any?"

"Because we don't want any Muggles apart from Muggle relatives to know about us."

"Muggle relatives?"

"Yeah. Non-magic people can give birth to magic people, and magic people can give birth to non-magic people. Often witches and wizards marry Muggles, so there are quite a few Muggles who know that we exist."

This was too much for one evening. Nikki had read about them in storybooks, but never had she imagined that it was for real. If they were for real, of course; Bill might just fool around with her.

"I've said too much," Bill went on. "I should put the Memory Charm on you and never see you again, but I don't want to. Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? I'm serious. You cannot tell a living soul."

"Look... If this is a joke it's not a very funy one. You actaully expect met to believe that there are such things like witches and wizards?"

"Okay... tell you what, why don't you follow me to my place and I'll show you." Bill knew that he should just oblivate her, but for somer eason he couldn't. Instead he suddenly wanted to show her his home, so she would believe him.

"Whatever for?"

"So I can show you that I'm telling the truth."

Nikki looked at him as if he was crazy. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but okay."

Bill rose. "Thanks. Come on then."

They walked to his house, and during the way Bill had time to regret his decision several times. What was he thinking? Why exactly did he want to show Nikki what he was? What if he would get in trouble for it?

When they arrived at his place Bill almost held his breath when showing her through the frontdoor. He didn't have too many magical objects lying around, but there were the moving pictures of him and his family.

Bill looked at her as if to try to see if she was telling the truth. Apparently he decided that he could trust her, because he put his wand away. "Good. I hope you still want to see me again."

"Of course. If you want to see me again, that is. But I just need to know... were you going to tell me about this, or did you do it just because of that owl? By the way, what was it doing

here?"

"The owl was delivering a letter from Charlie. That is how wizards and witches send letters to each other, by owl-post. And I was going to tell you, but before I did, I had to know if you wanted to see me again."

"Of course I want to see you again. Didn't I just tell you that?"

"Yes, you did. If you think that you can get used to the thought that I'm a wizard. And you know what?"

"No."

"I was scared that to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react."

"You don't have to worry," Nikki ensured him.

Bill rose. "I understand if you need some time to think this through, but I hope you still want to be my friend."

"Yes silly. You're still Bill Weasley, and I happen to enjoy your company."

Bill smiled, and Nikki could tell that he was relieved. "I hoped so. How about I walk you to work now, so you won't be late?"

Nikki looked at her watch. "Oh, yes. Let's go." She wanted to find out more about this Wizarding World, but she could not bring herself to ask Bill more about it. Not yet. She was still too confused about all this and had a hard time just comprehending what he had told her.

As they reached the restaurant Bill put a hand on her shoulder before she went inside.

"As I said, I understand if you need some time to think about all this."

"And I think I'm going to need that time. I mean, you've just told me that there actually is magic and stuff."

"I'll be in touch," Bill promised. "You take care until then, all right?"

"I will. You too."

They hugged, and Nikki watched Bill walk down the crowded street before she opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside.

"Hi!" greeted her Christine. "How was your date?"

"Good. We did some sight seeing."

"And is there something special going on between you?"

"I don't know. We've established that we're friends."

"Good. Then you'll have someone else apart from me and Mike to spend time with."

"The problem is that he works when I'm free and I work when he's free."

"What a shame. I guess we could give you a couple of nights of each week," Christine said.

"Maybe he can introduce you to some of his friends as well."

"I don't know, maybe. We haven't really discussed that yet."

"You did _what_! Merlin Bill, don't you know that we're supposed to keep the Wizarding World a secret? Muggles that do not have wizard relatives cannot know about us!"

Bill had just told Tim about his date with Nikki, the owl and that he had told her that he was a wizard.

"I know, but what was I supposed to do? She saw Charlie's owl, and it brought a letter."

"Yeah, you're right. Still, you could've performed the Memory Charm on her."

"I guess, but I- I know how this must sound, but I want her to know what I am."

Tim looked at Bill as if he was out of his mind. "And why exactly is that?"

"I don't know, it's ... I want her to be my friend, and it wouldn't feel right not to tell her what I am."

"So, you would have told her later on anyway, even if that owl hadn't turned up?"

"Yes."

"You must really have a thing for her."

A thing? No, no, they were just friends. "I like to be with her, as a friend. Besides, I've got Yasmin."

"Yeah, you do. Let's hope this Nikki won't tell anyone about us. You did tell her to keep quiet, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! And she said that she wouldn't tell anybody." Bill did not dare to think about what would happen if she told anybody about the Wizarding World.

"Let's hope she keeps her word," Tim said.

Bill nodded. Somehow had taken for granted that Nikki would keep her promise, but now when Tim brought it up, he mentally smacked himself. How stupid to trust someone he hardly knew with a big secret like that. At this very moment Nikki could have told everybody she knew about the Wizarding World. However, he doubted that she would be believed since she did not have any proof. That calmed him down a little, but the thought lingered at the back of his head.

He had to write to Charlie. Whenever there was something bothering him, Bill wrote to his brother. It did not matter how many good friends Bill had in Egypt, Charlie was still the one he always confided in when he had a problem.

Charlie folded the piece of parchment together. He had just received a letter from Bill. Apparently he had been on a couple of dates with a Muggle girl, who he claimed was just a friend, even though he was going out with a witch with whom he worked. The problem was that he had received an owl, from Charlie, in the middle of his last date with the Muggle girl, and Bill had to tell her about the Wizarding World. Charlie regretted that Snitch, his owl, had arrived at such a bad time, but how could he have known that Bill, at that very moment, was on a date? And with a Muggle girl?

He felt a little sting of envy. While Bill had two girls to choose from, he had none. It was not that he did not want a girlfriend. Almost two years had passed since his last relationship, and he had dated just a few times in that time. He simply could not seem to meet someone he was really interested in, and he had figured that it was better to wait for a witch he really loved instead of getting into a relationship with the first witch that came along.

Charlie knew that his parents, especially his mother, looked forward to having grandchildren, but he also knew that he would not be the first one to make her happy. Bill probably would. He had always been lucky when it came to girls. He obviously had something Charlie did not, and as much as Charlie wanted to he doubted that he would ever be as successful with girls as Bill.

Nikki had a hard time comprehending what Bill had told her about him being a wizard. She could not believe that such 'things' existed. They were supposed to be part of fairytales and bedtime stories, not real life.

Almost a week had gone by since that day when she had found out about the Wizarding World, and she had not told a living soul about it. She had promised Bill to keep quiet, and she was going to keep her word. She understood that it was important to him to keep it as secret as possible, and doubted that anybody would believe her since she lacked proof.

She could not imagine what living in this Wizarding World was like. Was it like the real world? And where did they live? She would like to know, and she would ask Bill when he decided to contact her again. If he wanted to tell her, that was. She did not know how secretive he had to be, but hoped that he could tell her at least bits and pieces of what it was like being a wizard.

He had promised her that he would keep in touch, but there had been no sign of him whatsoever. Nikki had begun to suspect that he would not contact her at all. Maybe he was embarrassed or ashamed, even though she had said that she was okay with him being a wizard.

"Just let me finish before you say something. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't really know how to tell you this ..."

_Say it already!_ a little voice inside Nikki screamed. Whatever it was she wanted to get it over with.

"The thing is..." Bill was now talking to his hands, "that apart from the world you and most people know, there is another."

"What? What do you mean?" What was he talking about? Another world? There was only earth, no one had found life on other planets yet.

"I'm part of this world, or community, or whatever you want to call it. I'm ... I'm a wizard."

Nikki stared at him, not knowing what to think. Wizard? "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke, or what?"

Bill shook his head. "No, it's not," he said calmly.

Nikki's first thought was that this couldn't be true. There was no such thing as witches and wizards. It was impossible!

"Look... If this is a joke it's not a very funny one. You actaully expect met to believe that there are such things like witches and wizards?"

"Okay... tell you what, why don't you follow me to my place and I'll show you." Bill knew that he should just oblivate her, but for somer eason he couldn't. Instead he suddenly wanted to show her his home, so she would believe him.

"Whatever for?"

"So I can show you that I'm telling the truth."

Nikki fought a quick battle with herself. She could get in serious trouble if she followed Bill to his place. And what did she really know about him? Nothing. For all she knew he could plan to rape her or kill her. But curiosity finally got the better of her. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but okay."

Bill rose. "Come on then."

Fortyfive minutes later they were standing outside a small house. It looked normal enough, Nikki thought, as she walked through the front door. And the inside looked normal too. No brooms or cauldrons or strange stuff were in sight at least.

She walked through the whole house, and ended up in the living room. Everything looked normal there too, despite the fact that there was no TV or stereo. It was then she caught sight of the portraits standing in a bookshelf.

She stepped closer, as if to convince herself that she had been mistaken. But the people in the pictures still moved. She stared at them and then at Bill, who was standing behind her.

"They're..."

"Moving," Bill finished for her. "I know."

"But... How..."

"You use a special kind of developing fluid," Bill said, realising that it probably didn't make any sense to Nikki at all. "They're magical photos."

Nikki walked over to the couch and sat down. Afraid that she would faint Bill hurriedly sat down beside her, but she simply looked at him in disbelief.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a wizard. Like I told you."

"But..."

"We're not supposed to exist?"

"Exactly."

"Well, we do. And I'm sorry for telling you like this, but when Snitch came with Charlies letter... I hope you're not angry at me."

Angry? No, why should she be? All this was so unreal, she couldn't make up her mind if it was something to be angry about.

"No, I'm not. It's just... I thought it was a joke."

"Well, I'm afraid it's not."

"Can you show me? Do some magic?"

"No, we're not allowed to do magic in front of Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic people."

"Oh, so we've got a name?"

"Yes, in fact you do."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "So, what you say is, there actually are such things as wizards and witches?"

"Yes."

"Then how come I've never seen or heard about any?" Answer that question if you can, Mr Weasley.

"Because we don't want any Muggles apart from Muggle relatives to know about us."

"Muggle relatives?"

"Yeah. Non-magic people can give birth to magic people, and magic people can give birth to non-magic people. Often witches and wizards marry Muggles, so there are quite a few Muggles who know that we exist."

This was too much for one evening. Nikki had read about them in storybooks, but never had she imagined that it was for real. If they were for real, of course; Bill might just fool around with her. But then again, what about the pictures? There was no way there could exist moving pictures if there wasn't something strange going on, and suddenly finding out that there were witches and Wizards was clearly classified as strange according to Nikki.

"I've said too much," Bill went on. "I should put the Memory Charm on you and never see you again, but I don't want to. Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? I'm serious. You cannot tell a living soul."

"Memory charm?"

"Yeah, I can make you forget that you ever met me."

That sounded dangerous. "There's no need fort that. I won't tell anybody."

Bill looked at her as if to try to see if she was telling the truth. Apparently he decided that he could trust her, because he nodded. "Good. And I hope you still want to see me again."

"If you want to see me again. But I just need to know... were you going to tell me about this, or did you do it just because of that owl? By the way, what was it doing here?"

"He was delivering a letter from Charlie. That is how wizards and witches send letters to each other, by owl-post. And I was going to tell you, once we got to know each other better. And I was worried how you'd react."

"Yeah. Talk about shock treatment."

They laughed, but Bill quickly got serious. "But, did you want to see me again or not?"

"Yes, I want to see you again. Didn't I just tell you that?"

"Yes, you did. If you think that you can get used to the thought that I'm a wizard. And you know what?"

"No."

"I was scared that to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react." Bill rose. "I understand if you need some time to think, but I hope you still want to be my friend."

"Yes silly. You're still Bill Weasley, and I happen to enjoy your company."

Bill smiled, and Nikki could tell that he was relieved. "I hoped so. How about I walk you to work now, so you won't be late?"

Nikki looked at her watch. "Yeah, we should be going." She wanted to find out more about this Wizarding World, but she couldn't bring herself to ask Bill more about it. Not yet. She was still too confused about all this and had a hard time just comprehending what he had told her.

They walked in silence, and as they reached the restaurant Bill cleared his throat. "I understand if you want some time to think about all this."

"And I think I'm going to need that time. I mean, you've just told me that there actually is magic and stuff."

"I'll be in touch," Bill promised. "You take care until then, all right?"

"I will. You too."

They hugged, and as Bill walked away Nikki opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 5**

Bill stepped out of the Apparition point in Bucharest, one week after receiving Charlie's letter where he had complained about girls in general and Louise in particular. Apparently things had changed for the worse after their trip to Germany, and Bill hoped that they would be able to work things out. His brother deserved a nice girlfriend, and Louise seemed like someone who could suit him well. At least from what Charlie had written in his previous letters. He had not said that he fancied her, but over the years Bill had grown accustomed to reading between the lines when it came to Charlie. And since he wrote about this Irish girl in almost every one of his letters Bill had come to the conclusion that he fancied her.

Holding his bag in a firm grip Bill Disapparated, and Apparated in the middle of the dragon reserve. He looked around to see if he could see Charlie, but did not spot him anywhere. Well, he just had to ask someone if he or she knew where his brother was.

"Excuse me please," he said to a passing wizard. "I'm looking for Charlie Weasley, do you know where I can find him?"

"Is he English?" the wizard answered. Bill noticed a thick Spanish accent.

"Yes."

"Then you have to go in that direction," the wizard said, pointing with his wand to the right. "Follow that… what is it called… path for ten minutes, then you will be in the area where he is working."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Bill started walking, keeping an eye on the dragons he passed. He didn't really feel comfortable with them around, and promised himself that he would not go near any of the enclosures. He didn't trust them, and from what Charlie had told him they could be vicious.

Ten minutes later he noticed that people around him spoke English, and he guessed that he must have come to the area where Charlie worked. And sure enough, soon he spotted a mop of red hair.

"Oy, Charlie!"

His brother turned around.

"Hi! Welcome to an exciting weekend with the most beautiful animals in the world," he said, grinning as he walked towards Bill. "How was the trip?"

"Nothing new. Had to wait at the Apparition point in Cairo for over an hour," Bill answered. He didn't really agree with Charlie on the 'most beautiful animals in the world'-part, but all the same it would be fun to visit him for a couple of days.

"Boooring. It's time for dinner soon, are you hungry?"

"Dinner, you say? I'm starving!"

"Good. Let's leave your bag in my room first."

Bill followed his brother into one of the barracks. His room was small, and Bill noticed a sleeping bag in a corner.

"Well, this is me," Charlie said. "Is it okay for you to sleep on the floor?"

"I see that you already know the answer," Bill said, motioning towards the sleeping bag.

Charlie laughed. "Yes, you've got no choice. But seriously, I'll sleep on the floor if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay. I can sleep on the floor. Now, how about that dinner?"

Five minutes later they arrived at the dining hall.

"You have to show me the mysterious Louise," Bill said in a low voice to Charlie as they stood in line waiting to get their food.

"I will."

And sure enough, once they were seated Charlie nudged Bill.

"There she is. The short one with brown hair down to her shoulders, she is sitting right over there with that blond girl. You see her?"

Bill looked in the direction in which his brother was pointing discreetly. "Yep, I see her."

"She had started to open up to me and we got along really well, but then we went to Germany..." Charlie trailed off.

"Well... you know her better than I do, so it's up to you to figure out what to do," Bill said. "But I'd like you to introduce me to her at least."

Charlie promised that he would, and later that night he took his chance he spotted Louise inside an enclosure.

"Louise!"

She hesitated, and even if it was for just one second Bill noticed it. He also noticed that she looked at him and not Charlie when she walked up to them.

Charlie introduced them to each other, and Bill extended his hand.

"Nice meeting you."

Louise shook his hand and smiled at him. "Nice meeting you too. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work. See you around."

"Bye," Charlie and Bill said in unison.

"You see what I mean? She did not even look at me!" Charlie said as they watched Louise walk back towards the enclosure.

"Yeah, I noticed. Strange."

"I just have to try and talk to her again."

"There's nothing else to do, is there?"

"No, guess not."

Next morning Charlie woke up at eight thirty. Noises from the floor had caused this not too pleasant awakening, and he groaned. Not now! He put the pillow over his head, trying to shut the noise out, but it was no good. The snoring continued, and finally Charlie decided to wake his brother. He snatched the duvet off him and pulled up the roller blind, making as much noise as he possibly could.

"Time to get up!"

Bill slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" he mumbled.

"Eight thirty."

"Already?"

"Yes. And we better hurry up. They only serve breakfast for another half hour."

Charlie threw Bill his clothes, and they dressed hurriedly before leaving for the dining hall.

After breakfast Charlie had to work. Bill accompanied him the whole day, and Charlie could see that his brother became popular with the women in his crew. They sneaked glances at him and talked to him whenever they had the opportunity, and Charlie wondered what made his brother so attractive. What did Bill have that he didn't?

Bill also talked to Louise for a while. Charlie decided not to interrupt; maybe Bill would have something interesting to tell him later.

"You better watch it Weasley, or your brother will get her," Evan said.

"Then I'll just be happy for them."

That was not completely true. Charlie knew that he would not like that. He would be jealous.

That night Louise couldn'tsleep. Instead she decided to take a walk. She dressed warmly, and when she stepped outside she was greeted by the chilly night air. It was a starry night, so she did not have to use her wand to see where she put her feet as she walked past the nearest enclosures.

Suddenly she heard someone talking some distance away, and quietly she walked closer until she could distinguish the voices.

"... don't know what's going on!" Charlie.

"Why don't you ask her?" A voice Louise didn't recognize.

"Like that would help! I've tried, and she just keeps saying that she understands if it was a mistake. She won't believe me if I tell her the truth!"

Louise noticed the frustration in Charlie's voice. Who were they talking about? And who was Charlie talking to? She knew that you should not eavesdrop, but could not help herself.

"Well, then I don't know," said the second voice.

"You're my brother, you should no about these things!" Charlie complained.

Oh... so the second voice belonged to Bill.

"I wish I did, but you know Louise better than I do."

Louise? Were they talking about her? Oh dear...

"I know! But why do things have to be so complicated?"

"I really don't know." Bill sounded serious. "Why don't you talk to her, and explain how you feel?"

"Perhaps. I like her, and I don't want things to be this way."

"Like? You're smitten by her, admit that," Bill teased.

"Okay, so maybe I am falling in love with her. But that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want to talk to me."

Louise had been silent, to be able to hear their conversation. What was this? Was Charlie interested in her? For how long had he been? Confused she walked back to her room. This was too much. She had not expected this, not at all. He just couldn't be interested in her, it was impossible. She had to talk to him; she wanted to sort this out. And she realised that she then had to tell him all about her past in order for him to understand why she had acted the way she had.

The next day Louise spent thinking about what she had heard the night before. She knew that she had to talk to Charlie as soon as possible, but the question was when. She did not want to do it as long as Bill was there, so she would have to do it when he had gone back to Egypt.

She avoided Charlie and Bill as much as possible. It was hard, but she didn't know what else to do. The nightly conversation between the two brothers was still fresh in her mind, and she was more confused than ever. She had been through difficulties a hundred times before, and she would like this one thing to be uncomplicated. But apparently it was not, and Louise guessed that she just had to deal with it.

At lunch Charlie and Bill accompanied her, and she actually managed to act as if everything was fine. She guessed that it was thanks to Bill, and the fact that she didn't have to be alone with Charlie.

"So have you enjoyed your stay?" she asked Bill when Charlie had gone to talk to another team member.

"A lot," Bill said, his face brightening. "It's always nice to see someone in the family."

"Do you see each other a lot?"

"No, not really. We work and our younger siblings go to school, so there's not much time really. But we normally have a get together at home every summer, and mostly at Christmas too."

Home... Charlie had told her about the Burrow, where his parents lived and where he and his siblings had grown up, and Louise was envious. She wanted a family like that, with a loving, doting mother and a kind father.

"So this is the first time you're visiting Romania?"

"Yes. Not that I'm especially fond of dragons, but it has been interesting."

"For how much longer are you staying?" Louise hoped that he would not leave for another week or so. She did not want to talk to Charlie just yet.

"I'm Disapparating right after dinner."

Damn!

"Okay. Well, it's been nice meeting you."

"It's been nice meeting you too."

Charlie came back, and their conversation ended. Bill and Louise shook hands and said goodbye before Louise went down to an enclosure where a wounded dragon was kept. She had to change its bandages. It was already put to sleep, and she quickly washed the wound and put on new bandages.

While Louise was busy she pondered over when she should talk to Charlie. A little nagging voice inside her said that she should do it right away, while a part of her wanted to stave it off for as long as possible.

Charlie stood outside the enclosure. He had to talk to her again, even though he knew what the reaction was going to be.

Louise turned around.

"For how long have you been standing there checking me out, Weasley?"

Charlie smiled innocently. "For a while. How's he doing?"

"He'll be fine. The wound looks a lot better."

"Good. Look... I need to talk to you, so please, just hear me out. Okay?"

"Okay. But, can I tell you something first?"

"Go ahead."

"I know that I've behaved strangely lately. And I just want you to know that it's not your fault that I've been avoiding you."

"Whose fault is it then?" Charlie asked, trying not to sound accusative.

Then Louise finally told Charlie the whole story of her life. The Dark Lord had killed her parents when she was a child, and since then she had been taken care of by a relative. Elfrida had taken care of her like she was her own daughter, and even though Louise loved Elfrida she really missed her parents. She wanted a family, like the other kids at school.

When she got older, boys entered her life, and she saw them as a chance to finally find someone who loved her. Somewhere she really belonged. However, things never turned out as she hoped that they would. If she was lucky the guy was decent enough to tell her why he left, and if she was really lucky he said that he liked her, but unfortunately not in the right way.

The result of all this was that Louise found it difficult to trust people, and she did not want to get romantically involved with any guy.

She reeled all that off at a speed that almost made Charlie ask her to speak slower, but he let her continue. He was shocked. He had no idea that she had been through so much, and he suddenly understood why she had ----.

"I'm so sorry... I had no idea… Why haven't you told me this before?" he asked when she fell silent again.

"I guess I was afraid you'd walk out on me like everyone else."

"Look... I care about you, and I hope you know that. And when you care about someone you don't walk out on them just like that."

Louise closed her eyes and swallowed before looking at him again. "I guess you're right."

"But now that you've told me your secret I want to tell you mine."

Louise nodded.

"At least hear me out, and then the rest will be up to you. The thing is... I'm falling in love with you."

Louise stared at him without saying anything.

"I'm sorry that it came so suddenly," Charlie said quickly.

Louise finally seemed to come back to reality. "It's okay. I didn't expect it, that's all. And I actually have something else to tell you."

"What might that be?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, looking down at her hands, before looking up again. "I'm falling in love with you too."

Charlie did not know what to say. Was this for real? He hugged her, and could not hold back a smile. It had come as a surprise, but it was what he had hoped for.

"So... what do we do now?" Louise asked eventually.

That was a very good question, Charlie thought. Unfortunately he had no answer to it. Instead he bent down and kissed her for the first time.

"I'd like to take you on one real date, to begin with," he said between kisses.

Louise wrapped her arms around his waist. "And I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Is there anything in particular you want to do?"

"Whoa, we have just decided to go on a date, I haven't had time to decide what I want to do. Why don't we first of all decide when we're actually going to go on this date?"

"How about tonight?" Charlie suggested.

"That'll be great. But I'd like to take a shower and change first."

"I'm going to do that too actually. But how about I come and pick you up in half an hour?"

"Better make it one and a half, I need time to put on my makeup and do my hair. No, half an hour is fine. See you then."

When Charlie left he had a big smile on his face. Things had turned out better than he had dared to hope.

Louise hurried to her room, collected a towel and went to take a shower. As the hot water washed over her she could not help but think about the talk Charlie and she had had. She knew that she was falling in love with him, but she also knew that she found it hard to trust guys. And even if he was just her friend Charlie Weasley she had become aware of the sudden seriousness of the situation. They were going on a date, a real date for Merlin's sake! Dates meant boyfriends, and boyfriends meant trouble and disappointment. Louise tried to calm herself down as she went to get dressed. It was going to be okay. After all, it was only Charlie.

Only Charlie... Maybe that was the way she would have thought about him before their trip to Germany, but now he was not 'only Charlie'. He had become someone else, and Louise was getting scared. She had done this before, and it had never worked out. She did not want Charlie to become just another heartbreak since he meant so much to her, but she told herself that going on one date could not be that bad. Then they could take things from there.

As Louise went outside she saw Charlie coming towards her, broom slung over his shoulder. She took a deep breath and walked towards him.

"Hi," he greeted her and gave her a big hug. She told herself to not panic, it was not the first time he had hugged her. "Are you ready for some flying?"

"Where exactly are you taking me anyway?"

"I don't know," Charlie replied and mounted his broom. "I thought we'd just see where we end up."

He grinned like a child on Christmas day, and Louise could not help but smile herself. She knew that he loved flying, and she had seen that he was really good at it. Apparently he had been Seeker for his house team when he went to Hogwarts, and rumours said that he was one of the best Seekers the school had ever had.

Louise mounted her Cleansweap and kicked of from the ground. Charlie was close behind, and he soon shot past her up into the dark blue evening sky.

She followed him when he slowly made his way over the steep mountains that surrounded the dragon reserve. They spent an hour in the air, and Louise was glad that she had put on mittens and a warm shirt under her robes.

Once back on the ground they stood beside each other, holding hands.

"Charlie..."

"Yes?"

"I just don't want us to rush things."

Charlie pulled her in for a hug. "That's all right. By the way... would you like to spend the night at my place? Just say no if you think it's too soon."

"I'd love to spend the night with you, but not at your place. You can't see the floor under all your robes and stuff. But you're welcome to sleep at my place if you want to."

Charlie agreed, and on their way to he room Louise thought about the others in their team. They would be satisfied, now that they were right about her and Charlie.

Bill was back in Cairo after his trip to Romania, and now he stood in the kitchen of his tent, preparing a couple of drinks for him and Yasmin. They had a relaxing night in, and to be honest Bill hoped that she would spend the whole night. He wondered if he could persuade her to do so, and tried to come up with various excuses to make her stay.

He suddenly felt a pair of arms around his waist and a warm body pressed up against his back.

"Hey..." Yasmin said. She kissed his neck, making him shiver.

"Hey. Didn't I tell you to wait in the living room?"

"Yes, but I just had to hug you."

Bill turned around to face her. "Just hug?"

"Yes. Do you have anything else in mind?" Yasmin asked, trying to look as innocent as possible. She failed, however, and Bill smiled slyly.

"What if I have?"

"Then I very much would like to know what that is."

"Are you sure?

"Positive."

He let his lips brush against hers.

"Mm, me like," Yasmin said, licking her lips.

Bill kissed her again, harder, before lifting her up on the kitchen table, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Still kissing they begun to undress each other, and Bill murmured against her lips; "How about we move into the bedroom?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
"Charlie, Louise, wait!" Walter stopped them as they were leaving the dining hall after breakfast. "I wonder if you two can do me a favour. I've received a letter from a friend who has got a Chinese Fireball he wants us to take care of. Now he needs someone to meet up with him and his men in Germany, and I wonder if you can help me with that. It should only take a couple of days."  
  
"When do we go?" Charlie asked.  
  
The two men turned to Louise, and she knew that she had to say something. A part of her did not want to spend time alone with Charlie, but she did not want to turn Walter down. "I'm in."  
  
"Then it is settled." Walter sounded pleased. "You will leave tomorrow morning. Come to my office at eight o'clock and I'll tell you where you are going to meet Jordan. Well, that's all for now, see you tomorrow."  
  
"I think it'll be interesting," Charlie said when they were on their way from the dining hall.  
  
"And besides, we'll get a couple of days off."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Louise did not like this, not at all. She had realised something very important over the last couple of days, namely that Charlie was more than just a friend to her. At first she had not paid much attention to her growing feelings, but now she was freaked. She could not allow herself to feel this way. She was just going to get hurt, like always. Her first instinct had been to tell Walter that she could not go to Germany, but at the same time she did want to spend a couple of days alone with Charlie.  
  
Charlie looked forward to spending a couple of days alone with Louise. And maybe there would be time to try to find out why she had been avoiding him. As far as he knew he had not done anything to deserve that kind of treatment, and he wanted to talk to her to make sure that everything was fine.  
  
At eight o'clock sharp Louise and Charlie stood in Walter's office, ready to receive their last instructions. They were to meet Walter's friend and his men at a cabin in the German Mountains, and take the Chinese Fireball with them back to Romania.  
  
Soon they set off. Flying always gave Charlie a sense of freedom and it reminded him of his days as a Quidditch player at Hogwarts. Sometimes he really missed Quidditch, but he liked his job and would not trade it for anything.  
  
As they put more distance between themselves and Romania, Charlie and Louise did not talk very much since it was hard to hear each other through the wind. When the compass on his broom told Charlie that they were near the cabin he started to descend.  
  
"We're almost there," he yelled, looking at Louise to make sure that she followed him. When they had flown through the clouds they saw a grey and green mountain landscape.  
  
"That must be it!" Charlie yelled, pointing at a little red dot that had to be the cabin. They landed and peered inside. It was dark, and no one seemed to be there.  
  
"Didn't Walter say that they would be here when we arrived?" Louise asked.  
  
"Yes. Hey, here's something!" Charlie had found a note tucked under the doormat and read it aloud.  
  
"Dear Charlie and Louise, We will arrive with the Chinese Fireball tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, make yourselves at home. In the cabin you will find food and everything else you need. The door opens with the usual Alohomora-charm. See you tomorrow, I wish you a pleasant stay.  
  
Sincerely Jordan"  
  
"Let's go inside, I'm cold." Louise produced her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora!"  
  
The door opened quietly, and they stepped inside. The cabin was dark, and Charlie took out his wand. "Lumos!"  
  
Beside him Louise did the same, and guided by the lights of their wands they looked around the cabin. It was a small wooden building with only one room. It consisted of two beds, a small square wooden table, a stove, a grandfather clock and some cupboards.  
  
"Not too bad," Louise said, and pointed her wand at a lamp standing on the table. "Lumos!" It began to glow with a soft, whitish light.  
  
"Not at all," Charlie agreed. He liked the cabin, it was cosy. "Let's try and find some food. I'm starving."  
  
Soon they found what they were looking for, and when they had finished their meal they agreed to have a look at the surroundings.  
  
After half an hour they returned to the cabin. The rest of the afternoon they lay sprawled across one of the beds chatting, and Charlie was relieved by the fact that Louise seemed to be her normal self.  
  
When Louise woke up the next morning she saw a sleeping Charlie beside her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she fought an urge to run her fingers through that thick mop of red hair. She wanted to, but it would be embarrassing it if he woke up.  
  
Suddenly she heard something tap against one of the windows, and it turned out to be a barn owl with a piece of parchment tied to its leg. Louise opened the window to let it in, and it landed on the kitchen table. She gave it water and some bread before she removed the parchment.  
  
"Dear Charlie and Louise,  
  
I regret to tell you that my friends and I will not arrive for at least two days. This due to unforeseen events that have to be taken care of before we can deliver the Fireball in your care. I have informed Walter about this, and he says that you are to wait at the cabin for us to arrive. I trust you will be fine, since there is plenty of food and drink. Send Becky back with an answer if everything is fine, and we will see each other in three or four days.  
  
Sincerely Jordan"  
  
As Louise read the letter her heart started to race. Three more days alone with Charlie! Oh dear Merlin! Her first impulse was to get her broom and fly away from there, but she knew that was not an option.  
  
She retrieved a piece of parchment, a quill and ink from one of the bags she and Charlie had brought with them.  
  
"Dear Jordan,  
  
Everything is fine here at the cabin, so you don't have to worry. See you in three days.  
  
Sincerely Louise"  
  
After attaching the piece of parchment to Becky's leg Louise carried her to the window. She watched the owl fly away before she turned her attention towards the sleeping figure on the bed and shook him.  
  
"Wake up! I've got something to tell you!"  
  
Louise tossed the parchment onto the bed as Charlie slowly opened his eyes.  
  
"We just got a letter."  
  
Sleepily Charlie grabbed it and sat up. After rubbing his eyes he read it through.  
  
Louise watched him as he read the letter. His hair was sticking out in all directions, and she fought another sudden urge to run her fingers through it.  
  
"So we're stuck here for another two days," Charlie said when he had finished the letter.  
  
"Looks like it. Not that I'm complaining. It means three extra days off from work."  
  
"You're right. There is enough food, so we don't have to worry about that. I only wish I had a Snitch," Charlie said as he slung his legs over the edge of the bed.  
  
"There are plenty of birds out there for you to chase."  
  
"Yeah, and scare the poor things to death."  
  
"Nah, they'll only think that you're some kind of gigantic bird of pray and fear for their lives."  
  
Charlie rose and walked towards her. "Let me tell you Miss, that if you do not watch your mouth I will turn you into a bird and chase you instead." Louise stuck her tongue out at him. "No you wouldn't."  
  
"Oh yes, I would!" Charlie reached for his wand and pointed it at her. "Or at least tickle you until you beg for mercy!" He lunged forward and grabbed Louise by the waist, and she bent double.  
  
"No! Stop it!" She was very ticklish, and Charlie the prat Weasly knew it only too well.  
  
"I'm not stopping until you beg for mercy, young lady!" Charlie declared and continued to tickle her.  
  
Louise squirmed and kicked, but Charlie did not stop. Instead he forced her down on the floor, sat on her stomach and held her hands above her head, pinned to the floor.  
  
"You give up?" he asked with a sly grin.  
  
"Never!"  
  
Charlie tickled her again, but Louise managed to get him off her. She had learned a few tricks from a friend of hers, in case she would be attacked without having time to get her wand out.  
  
Charlie looked surprised as she turned him over and positioned herself on top of him. "'Ey, where did you learn that?"  
  
"A friend taught me. Very useful." Louse grinned at him. "Peace?"  
  
"Only if you get off me right now."  
  
She rose and helped him to his feet. They established a truce and after breakfast they took to exploring the surroundings by broom yet again.  
  
As Louise sat on her broom watching Charlie soar through the sky she realised it; she loved him. She had been aware of her growing feelings towards him, but now, all of a sudden, she realised that she really loved him. And it scared her. Why did this have to happen now? Right now, when she had to spend three more days alone with him, in a cabin, in a remote part of Germany.  
  
She headed back towards the cabin, but Charlie blocked her way. He sat on is broom in mid air with a huge grin on his face and his eyes glowing with joy. Louise took him in. That smile, those eyes, those lips. She wanted to kiss him right there and then, but stopped herself.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked.  
  
"Nowhere, I was just flying around, like yourself," she lied.  
  
"Want to have another little tour of the neighbourhood? There might be things we haven't discovered yet."  
  
"Yeah, let's go."  
  
Two hours later they headed back to the cabin, and since there was not much else to do the rest of the day was, spent on one of the beds. Louise managed to keep the conversation going, and hoped that Charlie could not sense her uneasiness.  
  
She hated herself for the way she felt. They were supposed to be friends, but her feelings told her otherwise.  
  
Suddenly she felt one of Charlie's hands caress her hair, and shocked she closed her eyes. Why was he doing that? However, she quickly decided not to care about why and just enjoy it. Slowly she relaxed, and soon she fell asleep.  
  
When Charlie woke up the cabin was dark. He felt something next to him and it took a few seconds before he realised that it was Louise. He also noticed that he had put his arm around her waist, and he could not remember doing that. And why had he not moved to the other bed before he fell asleep? Should he stay there or try to get out of bed without waking Louise up? What would she say when she woke up if he remained in bed?  
  
Finally Charlie decided to stay where he was. When looking at the grandfather clock he saw that it was only five o'clock AM, and way to early to get up. He tried to go back to sleep, and soon fell into a restless slumber.  
  
A few hours later he woke again. Louise was still asleep, and when Charlie saw that it was almost nine thirty he decided to make breakfast. He managed to get out of bed without waking Louise, and as quietly as he could he cooked breakfast for the two of them.  
  
"Time to get up!" he hollered once it was ready.  
  
Drowsily Louise opened her eyes, and Charlie's stomach jolted. He knew what that meant, but chose to ignore it.  
  
"What time is it?" she mumbled.  
  
"Almost ten o'clock. Breakfast is ready, so you better get up before I eat it all."  
  
The word 'breakfast' made Louise quickly jump out of bed. Charlie had never seen her newly awakened before, and the thought that crossed his mind was that she looked adorable with her hair all messed up and that sleepy expression on her face.  
  
During the day the two of them spent a lot of time outdoors. There was not really anything else to do, and Charlie welcomed the lonely hours on his broom. Then he had a chance to fly like in the old days.  
  
A whole day outdoors was followed by another night indoors. Once again Charlie and Louise lay on their usual bed, and slowly Charlie realised that what he had felt that morning was not something passing. No, he was falling in love. He was falling in love with Louise Malone, and it surprised him.  
  
Charlie smiled to himself at the thought of their friends. He remembered being told that he fancied Louise, and that he had denied it. How wrong he had been. Why else had he made sure to talk to her so much? Why else had he been so persistent about her coming to that party? Why else had he been so satisfied when she had started to open up to him and spend time with him after work?  
  
He looked at her. She was sitting with her back against the wall, and he was lying on his back with his head close to her legs.  
  
"This is really relaxing. At the reserve there is always something to do, and here we are, doing absolutely nothing." He put his head on Louise's leg. "Need a pillow," he said matter-of-factly.  
  
"So that's all I can be used for?" She pretended to be hurt.  
  
"Yup. I thought you already knew that."  
  
That earned him a light smack on the shoulder.  
  
"Watch it, Weasly, or else..."  
  
"I think I recall us having a similar discussion yesterday."  
  
"We did. So now it's my turn to do this," Louise announced before she started to tickle him. It was not long, however, before Charlie managed to pin her to the bed.  
  
"Not fair!" she exclaimed and tried to defend herself. She continued to struggle to get lose until Charlie realised that she actually was trying to get closer to him. The next thing he knew he was kissing her, and Louise responded to the kiss.  
  
A tiny voice at the back of Charlie's head told him to stop, but he ignored it. Louise did not seem to mind the kiss either, and Charlie only came to his senses when Louise withdrew.  
  
"What was that?" he finally managed, bewildered. "What just happened?"  
  
"I don't know," Louise answered. She looked just as confused as Charlie felt.  
  
"I don't know what got into me." Charlie suddenly felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I just... I... I don't regret it, the... kiss, but..." He fought the mixed feelings inside him. One part of him was confused, and the other part wanted to kiss Louise again.  
  
"But I'm just a friend," she said, finishing the sentence for him.  
  
"No! Well, yes, but..."  
  
"You want us to forget it and go on as nothing has happened."  
  
"No! I don't know, it's... But I want you to know that you're still my best friend," Charlie said, and he could have smacked himself. The second he said it he knew that it had not come out the way he wanted.  
  
"And you're mine."  
  
Louise rose from the bed and got her broom that was standing against a wall. "I'm going out." Charlie did not try to stop her. Instead he watched her leave the cabin, and fell back against the pillow.  
  
Damn! Was this really happening? He had kissed Louise, and she had just left the cabin. Where was she going? What did she think about this? And why had he not stopped her? He needed to talk to her, but at the same time he was glad that she was gone. That gave him time to clear his head.  
  
He would talk to her first chance he got. He did not care about that she had said that she just regarded him as a friend. It might be the end of their friendship, but he needed to let her know that he had feelings for her.  
  
Louise had not come back at one thirty. Charlie fell asleep, and woke up when she shut the cabin door.  
  
"Hi... What time is it?" he asked sleepily.  
  
"I don't know." She took of her robe and lay down on the other bed.  
  
"Listen... about what happened..."  
  
"I'm tired, I don't want to talk about it right now."  
  
Charlie said nothing. He just went back to sleep, hoping that they would be able to talk this through in the morning.  
  
The next day Louise and Charlie waited for Jordan and his men to come with the Chinese Fireball. They spoke a little and did not mention the previous night. Louise just felt awkward and did not know what to say about it, and Charlie seemed confused too.  
  
It was eleven thirty when they heard a knock on the door. Louise opened it, and was greeted by a small wizard dressed in a travel cloak.  
  
"You must be Louise," he said.  
  
"That's right. And you must be Jordan."  
  
"Correct. I'm very sorry for the delay. I hope it has not caused any problems."  
  
"No, not at all." If he only knew.  
  
They shook hands, and Louise introduced Jordan to Charlie.  
  
"Well, I guess you want to see the dragon," Jordan said.  
  
"That's why we're here."  
  
Charlie and Louise followed the little man out of the cabin, and outside four more men were standing around a dragon that was put to sleep.  
  
"Well, here he is. I don't think he'll cause you any problem on your journey back to Romania."  
  
"Good. I think we should go as soon as possible," Charlie said, turned to Louise. She nodded. "I'll go pack right away."  
  
She quickly packed their belongings. The dragon was put into a harness that they would carry between their brooms, and as they took of Jordan and the others went into the cabin.  
  
On the way home they did not speak at all, and when they came back to Romania Walter helped them to release the dragon in an enclosure. After that they went their separate ways.  
  
Bill had decided to talk to Nikki again. A week had gone by since their last date, and he hoped that he had given her enough time to think everything through. And now he had two options: He could come by the restaurant or he could go to her house. He chose the second alternative.  
  
At eleven o'clock AM he made his way down the road where she lived, and soon he stood in front of the house. He breathed deeply a couple of times and tried to calm himself down before ringing the doorbell. He heard steps, and the door opened.  
  
A man stood in front of him. "Yes, can I help you?"  
  
"Yes, hello, I'm William Weasly, and I would like to speak to Nikki please. Is she home?"  
  
A blond woman came out of the kitchen. "Who is it dear?"  
  
"I'm William Weasly," Bill answered. "I would like to speak to Nikki, please."  
  
"Oh, now I recognise you." The woman smiled at him. "Nikki, you've got a visitor!"  
  
"Come in, William," the man said. "I'm Mike, Christine's husband, and this is Christine, Nikki's Aunt."  
  
Bill was shaking hands with them as Nikki turned up at the foot of the stairs  
  
"Bill, hey!"  
  
They hugged, and Christine grabbed Mike's hand and led him into the kitchen. Bill was grateful for that, since he wanted to spend some time alone with Nikki.  
  
"I promised I'd come by, didn't I?" Bill asked, looking down at the girl in front of him.  
  
She smiled. "Yes, you did."  
  
"So... have you been thinking about... you know?"  
  
"Yes, and I'd like to know more about it. If you're allowed to tell me, that is."  
  
"I can tell you as much as you'd like to know."  
  
"Fab!"  
  
"I was wondering if you wanted to do something today, before work."  
  
"I'd love to. Aunt Christine!" The blond woman appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Is it okay if I come in later to work today? Bill and I have some things to talk about."  
  
"Yes, take the whole night off if you need to. We don't have that many guests on Tuesdays anyway."  
  
"Great, thanks!" Nikki smiled gratefully at her aunt before turning back to Bill. "Let's go then."  
  
Bill was about to tell Nikki's aunt that it had been nice meeting her and her husband, but she was nowhere to be seen so he just followed Nikki outside.  
  
They had come to the street corner when Nikki spoke again.  
  
"You want to know something? I've been waiting for you to come."  
  
Had she? That was not really what Bill had expected, but he was pleased to hear it.  
  
"I was afraid that you'd despise me or something," he confessed.  
  
Nikki stepped in front of him, stopped and looked him straight in the eyes. "I could never despise you. It does not make any difference to me that you're a wizard." Bill could not resist giving her a hug.  
  
"So we're still friends then?"  
  
"Yes, we are," she said, hugging him back. "Now, how about heading downtown?"  
  
Bill spent the rest of the day together with Nikki, and he did not feel the least bit guilty about neglecting his work. He should be at home doing paper work, but he could save that for later. It was not long before he realised that Nikki had been serious when she said that she wanted to know all about the Wizarding World. She asked tons of questions, and Bill even told her about the Dark Lord and the war that had been affecting both wizards and Muggles.  
  
After dinner he took Nikki home. He noticed that she got a perplexed expression on her face when she saw the tent, and once inside she just looked around with her mouth open in shock. She made her way around the rooms, and finally she stood in front of the picture of his family.  
  
"They're moving," she said in disbelief, reaching out to touch the photograph.  
  
"I told you that they do, didn't I?" Bill asked.  
  
"Yes, but seeing it..."  
  
"I guess it's like when we see some strange Muggle thing," Bill said. "That's Mum and Dad, Molly and Arthur. Then there is Percy, Ron, Charlie, Ginny, Fred, George and me."  
  
"How do you tell them apart?" Nikki asked, referring to the twins.  
  
"By making them wear different coloured shirts, or shirts with an F or a G on them," Bill answered and chuckled. "By the way, can I get you something to drink?"  
  
"Have you got Butterbeer?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Then I'd like one."  
  
Bill prepared one Butterbeer each, and they while they drank he told Nikki more about the Wizarding World. He enjoyed telling her about everything magical, and he could tell that she found it was fascinating.  
  
When it was time for Nikki to go home Bill accompanied her. As they stood on the doorstep Nikki kissed his cheek and hugged him.  
  
"Thanks for walking me home."  
  
"Pleasure was all mine. See you."  
  
They hugged once more before Nikki went inside. Bill Disapparated and Apparated at his home. He was happy that things had turned out so well and that they still were friends.  
  
Nobody was home when Nikki came home, and she went into the kitchen. She had not had any dinner, and her stomach growled loudly.  
  
While preparing dinner she thought about Bill. This was only the third time they had met, and she still wondered why she had accepted the first date. You should never date someone you did not know, and it was pure luck that nothing had happened to her. For all she knew Bill could be a crazy murderer, and she promised herself to be more careful from now on.  
  
But, she asked herself, did Bill really strike her as someone who would rape or kill someone?  
  
No, he did not. But, another little voice inside her pointed out, he could still be very dangerous. She had heard about people who seemed mentally healthy who suddenly showed another side of themselves, and who was she to know what group Bill belonged to? There was no way that she could know if Bill was sane or a lunatic.  
  
This was what went through Nikki's head when she sat at the kitchen table eating her food. However, something about Bill made her trust him. She was glad that he wanted to be her friend, and that he had told her about the Wizarding World. But most of all she was glad that they still were friends. She did not want to lose that.  
  
It was exciting to know a wizard, and she would really like to tell someone about it, but she knew very well that she was not allowed to do so. And she understood why it was important to keep the Wizarding World a secret. She would not tell a living soul about it unless Bill told her to, and he hoped that he knew that and trusted her.  
  
When Bill had gone to bed that night he thought about Nikki and Yasmin. He knew that some might call him a player, but he did not think that he did something wrong. It would have been different if he had snogged them both, but he did not. He only snogged Yasmin, and besides he had told Nikki about her on their first date. At first she had wondered why he had taken her out for a drink since he already had a girlfriend, but when Bill had explained that he only wanted to be friends with her she had been okay with it.  
  
And that was all she was. A friend. It was good having a friend with whom he did not work. With Nikki he could talk about other things than curse braking, something that he always discussed when spending time with his co-workers. Besides, Bill liked meeting new people, and in his opinion you could never have too many friends.  
  
After their trip to Germany, Louise avoided Charlie as much as she possibly could. It was not easy since they had to work together, and to make matters worse he tried to talk to her about what had happened between them.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it!" Louise said every time, hoping that he would give up. Seeing him every day, knowing that she could never get what she wanted, hurt. She just wanted to be left alone, she needed time to solve her feelings and figure out what to do about them.  
  
Not that she could do very much about it. Charlie only regarded her as a friend; end of story, there was not much more to it than that. Louise knew that she had to try to forget him, but that was not easy. Every time she looked at Charlie her stomach jolted, and she could hardly take her eyes of him. Damn these feelings, damn Walter for putting her in this situation, damn Charlie for causing her to feel like this, damn her who felt like this!  
  
As much as Louise wanted to talk to someone about her feelings towards Charlie and what had happened in Germany she did not know whom to turn to. She did not want anyone at the reserve to know, and finally she wrote to her friends back home in Ireland.  
  
Charlie looked down at Louise, who was sitting outside an enclosure.  
  
"Can you just listen to me for a minute? Please?" He knew that it was no good, but he would not give up until she had listened to what he wanted to say.  
  
She looked at him defensively. "What do you want?"  
  
He sat down in front of her. "I just want to talk to you about what happened in Germany."  
  
"There isn't anything else to say, is there?"  
  
"Yes, there is."  
  
"Well, I don't think so. You made it clear that I'm just a friend to you, so what else can there be to say?" she asked and got to her feet.  
  
"Louise, wait." Charlie rose and tried to grab her arm, but she ran off. His first impulse was to run after her, but instead he sat down. What did she mean when she claimed that he had said that she was just a friend? He had never said that! It was she who had jumped to conclusions.  
  
Charlie walked back his room. For three days Louise had hardly spoken to him at all, and he did not know what to do. He did not want to talk to his friends at the reserve about it, so his only option was to write to Bill. His older brother must know what to do, and Charlie was in desperate need for some good advice. He wanted things to get back to normal. Why had he kissed her in the first place? Now he had ruined their friendship, since Louise apparently did not want to talk to him again.  
  
An hour later he had finished his letter to his brother. He looked for Snitch, and found him in his cage.  
  
"Come, I've got a job for you."  
  
Snitch landed on the desk, and Charlie gave him an owl treat and secured the letter before he carried his owl to the window and let him out. That was it, now he just had to wait for Bill's reply. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Yasmin had become an enigma to Bill. One moment everything was fine, and the next she avoided him. He had tried to talk to her about it but she just kept saying that everything was all right. It strongly reminded him of Charlie and Louise, and now he truly understood how Charlie must have felt.

"I know something's wrong." It was the second time in a week that he had brought it up, and once again Yasmin had stubbornly claimed that everything was fine. "You've been acting strangely lately."

Yasmin hesitated before speaking. "I know, and I'm sorry that I haven't told you before."

"Has something happened?"

"Yes... I know I've been acting strange lately, and the thing is... I've met someone else."

Bill only looked at her, trying to understand what she was saying. Someone else? When, why, who?

"Will you let me explain before you start screaming at me?" she asked.

Bill just nodded, incapable of speaking. He felt empty, and her words echoed through his head. Someone else, someone else, someone else... But somehow he wasn't surprised. She had been spending a lot of time 'with friends' and 'alone' lately, not telling him where she went and what she was doing.

"You're a really sweet guy and I like you a lot, but only as a friend," Yasmin continued. "And I think that it's not fair to either of us if we'd stay together for much longer."

Only as a friend, only as a friend, only as a friend... Somewhere inside Bill wanted to know who this guy was, but he didn't ask. After all it was better not to know.

"I guess you're right." What else was there to say? He could scream at her, accuse her, ask her all kinds of questions, but what good would it do? He would get some answers to his questions, but did he really want to know? No, he didn't.

"I understand if you're mad at me, you have every right to be. But I hope that you still want us to be friends."

Bill nodded without saying anything. He watched Yasmin rise from the couch.

"I'll see myself out."

Bill remained on the couch. It was over. Over. Yasmin had found someone else, and had left him. He buried his face in his hands. The emptiness inside was still there, and he couldn't stop the tears. Bill, who never cried, cried for two hours straight. The fact that he had been dumped for another guy was... well, he didn't know any good word for how he felt other than humiliated and angry. He was angry at Yasmin, at that guy, and he was humiliated because of the fact that he had been dumped for another. It was not supposed to be this way!

He had to talk to somebody. Nikki. He quickly wrote her a letter and got Ramses.

"Now hurry, this is important."

Nikki received an owl at twelve thirty AM. It tapped its beak against her bedroom window, and she quickly opened it to let it in.

"Hello there, Ramses. What have you got for me?"

The owl landed on her desk, and Nikki took the piece of parchment. She was getting used to this.

"I'll read Bill's letter and write an answer for you to take back."

Nikki seated herself on her bed.

_"I really need to talk to someone, and I was hoping you could see me sometime this week. Any day would be fine with me, but do you think that we could meet at twelve o' clock, during my lunch? We can meet at the restaurant. Please send Ramses back with your reply ASAP._

_Love, Bill"_

Nikki turned the parchment over, grabbed a pen and wrote her reply;

_"I can see you tomorrow, if that's okay with you. I'll be at the restaurant at twelve o'clock. Send Ramses back and tell me if you won't be able to make it tomorrow."_

_Love, Nikki"_

"Ramses, take this back to Bill."

Wondering what Bill wanted, Nikki attached the parchment to his leg before he took off. It must be something important if he owled her in the middle of the night and wanted an answer as soon as possible.

She had just gone to bed when Ramses appeared outside her window once again. Nikki let him in, and got Bill's reply.

_"Tomorrow will be fine. See you at twelve outside the restaurant._

_Love, Bill"_

"Well, that's settled then. I don't need you to take an answer back," she told Ramses, who immediately took off.

What was it that he wanted to talk to her about? It must be urgent if he wanted to see her as soon as possible and she hoped that nothing terrible had happened.

Bill hurried through the streets of Muggle Cairo. It was five minutes past twelve, and he was grateful that Nikki had been able to see him on such short notice. She was already standing outside the restaurant, smiling at him as he approached her.

"Hi. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well... Is there anywhere else we can go? I'd rather not discuss it in the middle of the street."

"I've got the keys to the restaurant. There's no one here at this time of day."

"Great."

Nikki unlocked the door and let Bill inside. "Would you like something to eat?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

"Okay." Nikki lead Bill to a table at the far back of the restaurant. "Here, sit down and tell me what's happened."

Bill swallowed hard to keep himself from crying. He did not want to cry in front of Nikki, but it was really hard not to. "It's Yasmin," he managed eventually. "She broke up with me."

"Why? When?" Nikki asked, looking shocked.

"Yesterday. Said she'd found someone new." Now he really had trouble keeping his tears under control, but he forced himself not to cry.

"I'm so sorry... I thought you two loved each other."

"So did I, but apparently she was of another opinion," Bill said bitterly. "It just feels so..." he trailed off.

"Unfair?"

"Something like that, yes."

Nikki started rubbing his back. "I know how it feels. And you wonder what you did wrong."

"Yeah. I really thought we had something, but instead she ran off with that git." Bitterness surged through his body again. It wasn't the first time a girl had broken up with him, but it was the first time he had been left for another guy. How could Yasmin just throw away what they had together? Was their time together suddenly not worth anything to her?

"What did she say when she broke it off?"

"Not much. That I'm a great guy and that she still wants to be friends with me. And so on. You know the drill."

"If there's anything I can do to make things better, just tell me."

Bill smiled faintly. "It's enough that you put up with me being miserable."

"No problem."

Talking to Nikki actually made Bill feel better. He needed someone who listened and let him talk, and even if she could not offer any specific help he was grateful that she took time and listened to his problem.

Eventually he rose from the table. "I should be going. Thanks for listening."

"Any time. Are you going back to work?"

"Yup. See you."

"See you."

They hugged before Bill took out his wand.

"Easier this way," he said before Disapparating.

As he got home that night he collapsed on his bed. He had managed to keep a straight face the whole day, but now tears streamed down his face, and he did nothing to stop them. He felt miserable, almost as if someone had torn his heart out of his body. It wasn't fair!

Even if he was upset he didn't blame her for what had happened. This was not the first time someone had dumped his or her partner for someone else, but it still felt like he was the only one in the whole world who had gone through something like this.

When alone again, Nikki thought about her conversation with Bill. She hated seeing him sad, and would make sure to be there for Bill if he needed someone to talk to, even though it was hard to know what he needed to hear. She wouldn't say that it would pass; from experience she knew that wasn't what you wanted to hear when you just had been left.

The situation Bill had suddenly found himself in made Nikki recall some of the boyfriends she had had, and the break-ups with them. Some had been painful, but she had been able to move on. It took time, but she knew that Bill eventually would forget Yasmin, as she had forgotten her previous boyfriends.

While working, Nikki pondered if there were ways for her to cheer him up. She could take him out and do Muggle things, perhaps show him Muggle Cairo. If he wanted to be cheered up, of course; maybe he just wanted to be left alone. Should she just wait until he contacted her again? Yes, that was probably best.

On his lunch break on the fourth day after the break-up Bill spotted Yasmin coming towards him and some of his co-workers whom he had lunch with. They hadn't seen her since the day she had broken up with Bill, and rumour had it that she was being transferred. Where or why no one really knew.

"Look who's coming," Tod said.

Bill groaned. "What does she want?"

"Probably to shag you, just for old time's sake," Lars said.

Yasmin came up to them. "Hey guys. Bill, have you got a minute?"

"Yes, if it's one minute. Lunch ends in ten minutes."

"I'll be brief. Could we go somewhere else?"

Bill followed her. Once out of earshot for the other guys she stopped.

"I came say goodbye. I'm being transferred, maybe you've heard that."

Bill nodded.

"Look... I'm sorry for what happened. I loved you and I think that we would have been great together if I hadn't fucked things up. Anyway, I just came to tell you that I've gotten a desk job, so you won't see me around anymore."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Good luck to you too, with whatever you'll do. And if you ever want to talk you know where to find me. But I've got to go now. See you."

"See you."

Bill did not know if he should feel relieved by the fact that Yasmin would not work as a curse breaker anymore. Now he would not see her every day, and that was good, but at the same time he knew that he would miss her.

Nikki stepped out of the shower. She was getting ready to go on a date with Bill, and she was nervous. Lately things had been... well, not like they used to be. They had spent a lot of time together after Bill and Yasmin's break-up, and they almost acted as if they were a couple even though they had not discussed it once. It was just natural; they did things without wondering what was going on. It was as if things were simply supposed to be that way.

What was strange was that she didn't have any other feelings for him. She could honestly say that he was just a friend and that she was not in love with him, and as far as Nikki was concerned she was happy with things being as they were. She had never experienced something like this before, and she liked the fact that they could act like a couple without being one. Things were supposed to be this way; uncomplicated and natural. They were just a two good friends who had taken things a small step further.

But what to make of the fact that they had begun to hold hands and cuddle as if it was something natural? Friends did not do that, did they? Since they hadn't discussed it Nikki assumed that they were friends and nothing else, and it was not normal for a couple of friends to act like that. Only couples held hands and cuddled like that, and sometimes she wondered how it all had begun. And why? What reason did they have to hold hands and cuddle if they were just friends? No reason at all, she knew that, but maybe they just needed someone to hug from time to time. That was what everybody needed, and why would she and Bill be any different? And as long as they enjoyed it she couldn't see why there would be any problems.

She dressed and put on a bit of make up; after that she just had to wait for Bill. Meanwhile she took the opportunity to read a few pages in a book she had borrowed from Christine, and she jumped when she heard the crack that indicated that Bill had Apparated.

"You should send Ramses and tell me when you're about to arrive," she said and put the book down.

Bill smiled innocently. "Sorry. But shouldn't you be accustomed to me Apparating by now?"

"No. It's not natural to be able to vanish and then materialise somewhere else within seconds."

"To us it is," Bill said and sat down beside her. He put his arms around her, and she leaned against him.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"If you are."

"Yep!"

Nikki took Bill to a pool hall. He had never played pool before, and she looked forward to introduce him to one of her favourite leisure time activities.

Bill looked at the tables and the people playing. "So that's what I'm supposed to do?"

"Yes," Nikki announced happily. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards a table.

"Come on."

She got the balls and the cues. "So, this is what you do."

They spent two hours playing, and to Nikki's delight Bill enjoyed pool, even if he confessed

that he thought it was a strange sport. After the game they decided to head back to Bill's place, and it was not long before they were curled up on his couch. Nikki lay with her head on Bill's lap, and he raked his fingers through her hair.

Eventually he spoke. "I had fun today."

"That was my plan."

"I really appreciate this, you know. You doing your best to cheer me up."

"Don't mention it, that's what friends are for. How are you feeling, by the way?"

Bill thought for a few seconds. "Good, actually. At least most of the time."

"I'm glad to hear that. And it will get better, I promise."

"I know. It's just hard... I've never been dumped for someone else."

"Sucks, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I bet he's not half as nice as you. And when she realises that she'll come back."

"I don't know if I want to give her a second chance. I still have feelings for her, but I doubt I would take her back."

"Why not, if you've still got feelings for her?"

"Weasley pride, I suppose." Bill gave a half hearted smile. "No, I don't want to try again, and know that she might dump me again."

"Good decision. It's never fun to go around just waiting for it to happen."

"You've done that, huh?"

"Yeah, when I didn't know what else to do. I really wanted to be with the guy, and even though he had left me once I did my best to keep him. And of course it didn't work."

"He left you again?"

"Yeah. But enough about that. I'm just glad you're okay."

"At least I will be."

"Good." Content Nikki shifted into a mroe comfortable position and closed her eyes. Bill continued to caress her hair, and as they sat in silence she felt herself drift off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was a sunny day in June, and Charlie and Louse prepared to go to England. Charlie went home every summer, and now he had persuaded Louise to come with him.

"Just don't eat anything Fred and George offer you," he warned. "You never know what you'll turn into."

"I thought you'd protect me from such things," Louise said, and gave Charlie her most innocent smile.

"No way, you're on your own."

In reply, Louise stuck her tongue out at him.

They were going by Portkey from Bucharest to England. In order to get to Bucharest they Disapparated, and Apparated close to the Portkey point. Charlie had always liked to Apparate. It was quicker than going by broom or using a Portkey, and besides he didn't like the feeling when using a Portkey. When Apparating you hardly felt anything, even if it could be dangerous before you had learned how to do it properly.

At the inn they quickly discovered that they were not the only ones going to England. Charlie and Louise gathered around the two wizards in charge of the Portkey, and waited for their turn to step up to the old map. With their bags in a firm grip in one hand they put the other hand on the map and waited.

"Countdown! Three… two… one…"

Suddenly Charlie felt the familiar pull behind his navel that indicated that they were moving, and after a few moments of floating through the soaring air and seeing brilliant colours around him he hit the ground.

"Two thirty-five from Bucharest!" a voice said. It belonged to one of the two wizards in charge of the Portkey in London.

Charlie and Louise picked themselves off the ground, and followed the others out of the biggish, square room and found themselves in a street bustling with people. Diagon Alley.

"It's been years since I've been here," Louse said, looking around.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Then let's get something to eat. How about going to the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Good choice."

They hurried to the inn, got a table and ordered what they wanted to eat and drink. It wasn't long before the barkeeper placed two plates and two glasses in front of them, and they ate in silence. Charlie was really hungry, and devoured his food in no time. Soon Louse had finished her meal as well, and after paying for their meal they stepped out of the dark, cool inn and out into the warm sunlight. They decided to Apparate to the Burrow, and Charlie noticed that Louise got a worried expression on her face.

"I'm nervous!" she complained.

Charlie hugged her tightly. "You don't have to worry. It's going to be okay."

"I'm not sure if I believe you," Louise said in a half serious half joking tone of voice as she felt the inside of her robes for her wand. "Shall we?"

Louse suddenly realised that it was not long before she was going to meet Charlie's family for the first time. At the thought her stomach turned. What if they didn't like her? What would she do then? Go back to Romania and wait for Charlie to return when his vacation was over?

At that moment she regretted that she had accepted to come with Charlie to the Burrow. The thought of meeting the rest of his family was intimidating, but since she did not have anywhere else to spend her summer vacation she had might as well go with Charlie to England. And his family seemed really nice from what he had told her, so she had decided to give it a try.

They Disapparated, and after floating around in a colourful nothingness for a couple of seconds they Apparated on a narrow, gravelled road.

"So, here we are," Charlie said. "We'll be home in a few minutes."

He took Louise's hand, and they started walking. After five minutes they saw a house, and Louise had to remind herself to breathe. That must be it. It was the most curious house she had ever seen, and she wondered how on earth there could be enough room for nine people in there.

"Home sweet home," Charlie said brightly and quickened his pace.

Louise didn't answer, because they just walked into the garden. It was large and well attended, and it contained many different kinds of flowers, trees and bushes. Charlie walked ahead of her towards a narrow door, and pushed it open. It led straight into the kitchen, and what a kitchen it was! Louise had never seen anything like it, but she did not have time to look around properly before Charlie yelled, "Hello everybody! We're home!"

The kitchen was suddenly full of people with red hair, and Louise had no time to count them all before a woman who must be the siblings' mother came up to her and Charlie. She gave Charlie a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Welcome home, how was the trip?"

"We survived. This is Louise, Louise, this is my Mum Molly."

"Welcome to the Burrow dear, it's lovely to meet you," Molly said and smiled at Louise before giving her a hug. "I'll leave it to Charlie to introduce you to the others. Bill's not here yet though, he'll come tomorrow."

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too Mrs Weasley" Louise said and hugged her back, slightly taken aback by this sudden display of affection. It was something she was not used to.

"He's bringing his girlfriend too," a voice said. It belonged to what looked like the youngest boy in the family, and Louise guessed that he must be Ron.

"Ron! He's said she's just a friend," Mrs Weasley corrected her youngest son, who just smirked.

Charlie introduced Louise to the rest of the family. First in line was Arthur, the siblings' father, who, to Louise's relief, also seemed pleased to meet her. Then there were Fred and George, the twins who, according to Charlie, never missed an opportunity to pull a prank. They looked exactly alike; the only way Louise could tell them apart was to remember that Fred had on a red sweater and George a green one.

"And you two better behave," Charlie warned them, not without seriousness in his voice. The twins just smiled at him with a look on their faces that clearly told Louise that they didn't promise anything. Then she was introduced to Charlie's youngest brother, who came up to her and shook hands. He introduced himself as Ron.

"Just tell Fred and George if Charlie gets out of hand. They'll take care of him."

Fred nodded vigorously. "We're on duty twenty-four hours a day."

Charlie laughed. "That's enough, don't give her any ideas. Don't listen to them," he said to Louise, and introduced her to Percy. He shook her hand and gave her a polite little nod. "It is nice to make your acquaintance."

This caused Fred, George and Ron to burst into a fit of giggles, and Percy seemed clearly annoyed about this.

When Louise had been introduced to Percy, Charlie introduced her to a young girl, who was standing behind the others.

"This is Ginny, the only girl in the family."

"I'm glad you're here," Ginny said and gave Louise the usual Weasley-smile. "It's nice to finally have another girl in the house."

Louise smiled back and looked at Charlie. "I can imagine what it's like. I mean, I work with him, and having several of him around must be hard."

When Louise had met Ginny, Ron introduced her and Charlie to a girl and a boy who seemed to be the same age as Ron; Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Louise quickly realised that Harry was none other than Harry Potter. For a second she wondered what he was doing at the Burrow, but remembered that Charlie had mentioned that he was friends with Ron.

After an afternoon in the Weasley household, Louise was grateful when Mrs Weasley decided that it was time to start making dinner; despite the lunch at Diagon Alley she had become hungry. Everybody helped with gettin the table ready, and meanwhile Fred and George told her about their plans of opening a jokeshop. They even offered her to try some of their candy. Louise turned down the offer however, remembering what Charlie had told her.

"Did you invent those yourself?"

Fred nodded. "Mum hates it, but we want to open our own jokeshop when we've graduated."

"So you're constantly inventing new things?"

This time it was George's turn to nod. "Mum says it takes concentration of our school work, but at least we use our knowledge to do something good for mankind."

Charlie, who had just come over to them, put his arms around Louise's shoulders. "Good for those who don't get exposed to your crazy inventions."

The twins smiled innocently at their older brother.

"There's no other way we'd know if they're working properly, is there?" George asked.

Charlie sighed. "I give up. Louise, try and see if you can sort them out."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking over to Harry and Ron. Louie was about to follow him, but didn't have time before George started to talk to her again.

"Anyway, we're sure it'll be a success."

"I hope so," Louise said honestly. "It's great that you've found something you really want to do, even though the rest of the family doesn't seem all too happy about it." She smiled at the many times Charlie had told her about the twins and their ability to cause trouble.

"Now that is a problem," Fred admitted with a look of mock concern on his face. "I guess George and I will have to go into hiding if they continue to act like this."

"Yes, start a new life somewhere else. And you must not, under any circumstances, forget to change your last names. Preferably dye your hair as well," Louise said.

George nodded. "Yeah, we'll have to take all necessary precautions so they won't be able to track us down and kill us."

They were interrupted when Mr Weasley came to tell them that dinner was ready. Fred and George must have realised that Louise supported their plans of opening a joke shop, because they continued to tell her about all the things they wanted to invent and already had invented. They also told her about some of their adventures at school, and together with Ron, Harry and Hermione they shared their opinions on their teachers and other students. Louise enjoyed listening to their stories, and she had such a great time that she did not keep track of time until Mr Weasley announced that it was eight o' clock. By then all the food was eaten, and everybody were just sitting around talking to eachother.

When the table had been cleared and everything had been carried inside Charlie and Louise went out into the garden again. They were sitting under a tree, enjoying the warm night. Louise leaned against Charlie's chest, and he had wrapped his arms around her.

"So wasn't I right?"

"Yeah. I've actually had a great time."

"I'll remember to give Fred and George credit for that."

Louise laughed. "I had expected the worst based on what you had told me, but they're absolutely hilarious!"

"Just wait until they expose you to some prank. Then they won't be so hilarious anymore."

"I'll make them love me so much that they won't have a heart to do that. Or maybe I'll just threaten with exposing them to the unforgivables if they even think about pulling a prank on me," Louise said and smiled sweetly at Charlie.

"We'll see about that."

When Bill had asked Nikki to come with him to the Burrow over the summer she had been surprised, but after checking with her aunt and Michael she had decided to go. Now, however, she had started to regret it. She wasn't sure if she looked forward to the prospect of being hurled through nothingness, holding only an old boot or a football or whatever, instead of going by airplane, even though Bill had ensured her that Muggles could use Portkeys as well. And it was a chance to get some time off from work, so she was willing to take the risk.

At the moment she was standing, bag in hand and her heart beating fast, with Bill beside her in the wizard part of Cairo. They were soon o leave for England. She had never travelled by Portkey, and was still not sure if it worked for Muggles. What if she would be left behind? But if Bill said that Muggles could use it she guessed that it must be true.

While waiting she had a look around the people standing around them. Almost everybody was dressed in cloaks, and she received quite a few curious looks from some of the wizards and witches who also were going to London.

Soon it was their turn to step up to the Portkey.

"It'll be okay, just do what I do," Bill whispered in her ear, squeezing her hand.

The wizard was holding out an old, broken football, and Nikki saw that the others put a hand on it. She did the same, gripping her bag tightly with the other hand.

"Beginning countdown!" said the little wizard. "Three... two... one..."

Nikki was jerked forward. She gasped in surprise as she was lifted off the ground, noticing that her hand was firmly attached to the football. She could feel Bill on her right side and a witch on her left; their bodies kept banging into eachother as they were rapidly hauled forward. The howling wind blew through her hair, and through her closed eyelids she saw dozens of different colours swirl by.

Suddenly her feet hit the ground, and she fell over.

"Two thirty from Cairo," said a voice.

"Are you all right Nikki?" she heard Bill ask somewhere from above. She opened her eyes, lifted her head and saw him bend over her.

"Think so. That wasn't so bad after all."

Bill grabbed her hands and helped her to her feet. "I told you so. Now, are you ready to see Diagon Alley?"

He had told her about the street in London where wizards from all over UK came to shop, and Nikki looked forward to seeing it with her own eyes. Taking her hand Bill led her towards a door with a sign saying DIAGON ALLEY. People were walking through it, and sunlight was flowing into the room.

As they stepped out into the street Nikki gasped. It did not look like she had imagined it, it was by far more amazing. It was as if she had stepped right into some fairy-tale, and she tried to take in everything she saw at once. Shops lined the street as far as she could se, and people were walking past. Most of them were wearing cloaks, and some wore tall, pointy hats as well. They were talking and laughing, and different smells that Nikki didn't recognize filled the air.

"Wow!"

Bill smiled. "I thought you'd like a look around here before we go home."

As he took her hand and led her down the street she kept turning her head to look at everything they passed. It was amazing; never in her life had she thought that something like this existed.

She noticed that Bill seemed more confident than usual. During their first dates in Cairo he had been almost unsure of himself, but now he moved with a new poise and Nikki realised that this was his territory. He didn't belong in the Muggle world. He belonged here, in this world, among other wizards and witches. This was his home, and she was a visitor, just as lost as she imagined that Bill must feel in the Muggle world.

He guided her through the street, and one and a half hour later Nikki had looked at books, broomsticks, clothes, cauldrons, animals, wizard sweets and a number of other things, and now it was time to go to the Burrow.

"Now, where do we go to floo-powder ourselves to your home?" she asked.

"The Leaky Cauldron."

They headed back to the inn, where they had to pay a knut each for using the fireplace. After paying the fee they were shown into a room with only a large fire place and a wooden table.

"Just throw the floo-powder into the fire, step into it and say 'the Burrow'. But you must speak clearly, and keep your arms close to your body until you slow down. Then put them in front of you," Bill instructed Nikki, who nodded.

"I'll go first. See you."

Once again Nikki realised that this was Bill's territory. He took some powder from the bag that the inns' keeper held out, and as if it was the most natural thing in the world he threw it into the fire. It roared and turned green before Bill casually stepped into it and said; "The Burrow!"

Nikki watched him disappear, and took a deep breath. She took a pinch of powder, which felt like sand against her palm, and threw it into the fire. It turned green once again, and reluctantly she stepped into it. To her surprise the flames felt cool against her skin.

"The Burrow!"

She fell; it was as if something pulled her downwards. Then she began to spin, and wind roared around her. She wanted to see what went on around her, but the strong wind made her close her eyes.

Suddenly things seemed to slow down, and she put her arms up in front of her just before she felt ground beneath her. She stumbled out of a fire place, and almost fell over before someone grabbed hold of her.

"Are you okay?" Bill asked as he took hold of Nikki to prevent her from falling.

"Yeah." Nikki straightened herself up and looked around. She had just opened her mouth as if to speak again when a door opened and they heard someone come into the house.

"I wonder when Bill and Nikki are coming," a female voice said. Bill immediately recognized his mum's voice.

"We're in the living room!" he called.

She came into the living room, followed by his father.

"There you are!" she exclaimed and hugged him. "How was the trip?"

"Good. Mum, Dad, this is Nikki, Nikki, this is my Mum Molly and my Dad Arthur."

Mrs Weasley smiled at Nikki and hugged her. "It's lovely to meet you dear. Welcome to the Burrow."

"Thanks Mrs Weasley," Nikki replied, returning the hug. After that she said hello to his dad, and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Weasly."

"Where are the others?" Bill asked his mum.

"Still in the garden."

Bill took Nikki outside, and there was the rest of the Weasley clan.

"And don't go near Fred and George again, you wouldn't want to be in the way when they get started," a boy who must be Bill's youngest brother said as she shook hand with the twins. They gave Nikki one identical, not so innocent, grin each before the twin named Fred smacked Ron playfully on the shoulder.

"You weren't supposed to tell her that, you prat!" he said good-naturally.

Nikki giggled. "I'll try and stay out of trouble."

"Seriously, you two," their mother said. "Try and behave tonight as well." She gave the twins a stern but loving look, and they nodded.

Bill then introduced Nikki to Charlie. "I hope my dear brother here treats you well," Charlie said as they shook hands.

"He does, mostly. Can I come to you and complain when he doesn't?"

"Any time. Or better still, I'll teach you what to do if he gets on your nerves."

Bill pretended to make an attempt to drag her away from his at the moment annoying younger brother. "I do not think that you two should talk anymore. I don't want Chas to give you any crazy ideas."

Nikki just smiled at him. "No, I'd love to see what he could teach me. I mean, I have to know what to do when you get impossible."

"I'll see what I can do," Charlie promised. "This is Louise, my girlfriend," he continued, motioning towards the short brunette by his side.

The girls shook hands, and Bill gave Louise a hug and asked her if she still liked Romania before introducing Nikki to Ron. Thankfully his youngest brother behaved.

"And this is Harry and Hermione," he said, motioning towards the two others without red hair.

Bill and Nikki both shook hands with them. It was the first time Bill stood face to face with the Boy Who Lived, and before he could help it he was looking for the scar. However, he had not much time to look for it since there was one more person to introduce to Nikki. His brother Percy, who just greeted Nikki with a formal "Pleased to meet you".

When everybody had been introduced Bill gave Nikki the grand tour of the house. Nikki had never seen anything like it, and asked him abbout all the different magical items she had never seen before.

Afterwards they joined the others in the garden, and soon dinner was on the table. They all gathered around, and during dinner his father talked to Nikki about Muggle life. He was really interested in all things Muggle, and Nikki seemed to have a good time telling him about things he wanted to know. She also talked to Charlie and Louise a lot questioning them about Romania and the dragons.

Charlie sat cross-legged on the veranda, talking to Bill. Nikki, Louise and the two brothers were the only ones at home, since Percy and their dad was at work and the others had gone to Diagon Alley to by the school supplies for the ones still at school.

He watched Louise, who was sitting on the grass further away in the garden, talking to Nikki. It was almost a week since they had come to the Burrow, and Louise seemed happier than he had ever seen her. The two girls laughed at something, and Charlie was satisfied that they seemed to get along so well. Louise needed to see that people did like her, no matter what she thought.

"So, when are you and Nikki going to hook up?" he asked Bill.

"Huh?"

"You heard me."

"I did. And I don't know."

"But there's something there."

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. I don't know."

"You don't know? You must know if you have feelings for her!" Charlie protested.

"Well... It's weird. We're friends, but still we hold hands and cuddle like we're a couple."

Charlie frowned. He had never heard of two friends who acted like that. "So you're not in love with her?"

"No, or at least I don't think so. And I don't think she's in love with me either."

"Then what's going on? If you hold hands and cuddle there must be something there."

Bill shrugged. "Well... I guess so, or we wouldn't be able to hold hands and cuddle like we do, but it's not... We haven't discussed our... relationship, or whatever it is. I don't know how else to describe it, it just comes natural."

"Let me get this straight. You guys are not going out, but you act like it?"

"Something like that. Why?"

"Well, I happen to believe that there is more to this than just friendship," Charlie stated. "You don't cuddle with a person who's just a friend."

"Don't you think I know that?" Bill retorted, harsher than he had intended to. "What exactly are you implying, by the way?" he continued, this time in his normal tone of voice.

"Nothing. Just that you'd be crazy to miss out on an opportunity like this. We all see that there's something going on between you guys, so don't deny it."

Bill groaned. "Charlie, please stop it! You don't need to play matchmaker!"

Charlie held up his hands defensively and suppressed a smile. "Okay, calm down."

The fact that his brother had not realised that something was going on between him and Nikki amazed him. Then again, Charlie had been oblivious to his feelings towards Louise, he reminded himself. Sometimes he wondered if anything would have happened between them if they had not been sent to Germany. Well, maybe eventually.

Talking to Charlie had made Bill realise that his and Nikki's relationship was unusual, or as his dear brother so elegantly had put it; "You don't cuddle with a person who's just a friend". And he was right, wasn't he? The thing was that Bill did not know what do to about the situation. He was content with things being as they were, so why would he want to change anything between him and Nikki? They were friends who shared something that normally only couples did, and it had never seemed strange to him. However, Bill suspected that his brother was on to something. Why, exactly, did he and Nikki cuddle and hold hands if there wasn't something going on between them?

"You know what? I have to talk to her."

"About what?" Charlie asked.

"Us."

"Then I'll take Louise for a walk."

Simultaneously the two brothers rose, and walked over to the girls.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Bill asked.

"Girl stuff," Nikki answered. "Want to join?"

"No thanks. I need help with deciding what to get Ginny for her birthday, and my dear brother here turned out to be of no help at all," Charlie said. "So Louse, could you help me with that?"

"Absolutely." She got to her feet.

"And Nikki, could you make sure that your friend stays out here please?" Charlie continued. "I don't want him to come with any more of his more or less useless ideas."

"Does that require me tying him to a tree?" Nikki asked innocently, narrowly avoiding Bill's attempt to swat her arm.

Charlie and Louise laughed.

"Come to think of it that would be best. Then we could let the gnomes have him." Charlie's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Hey! I'll remember that!" Bill huffed.

"Whatever. See you guys later."

Charlie took Louise's hand, and they left Bill and Nikki alone. Bill looked after them, suddenly very aware of what he had to do.

"So, when's Ginny's birthday?" Louise asked as she and Charlie walked back to the house.

"Not until August. We just need to give Bill some time alone with Nikki."

Louise wasn't surprised. She had seen that there was something going on between Charlie's older brother and Nikki, and she had wondered when the two of them would get together.

"Has he got feelings for her?"

"That's the thing. He doesn't know," Charlie said, and told Louise what Bill had told him earlier.

"Well, it certainly looks like they've got something going on," she agreed. "So, what do we do while they try to figure things out?"

Charlie pulled her in for a hug. He let his hands slid underneath her shirt, and caressed her bare back. "I can think of a number of things I would like to do right now."

Louise let her lips brush against his. "And just what did you have in mind, if I may ask?"

"You have to guess."

"Hmm... cook lunch for the four of us the Muggle way?"

"No."

"Oh, then I know. Clean the house from top to bottom the Muggle way."

"Wrong again." Charlie said and kissed her.

Louise wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her, and it was not long before they were on their way up the stairs to Charlie and Bill's room.

With thirteen people around most of the day there was no such thing as privacy, and they spent the next hour making up for lost quality time. Afterwards they dressed again, and remained on Charlie's bed. Louse rested her head on his shoulder, tracing little circles on his stomach with a finger.

"You know what?"

"No."

"I'm still not quite used to the fact that people actually seem to like me and am interested in who I am. Nobody ever wanted my opinion on something before I arrived in Romania, for example. I've never really experienced anything like it, especially not like here with your family."

Charlie kissed her forehead and tightened his grip around her. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that. And I'll always be here, no matter what. I want you to be happy."

Louise smiled. "I am happy, thanks to you and the others at the reserve."

"Good. And promise me that you will stay happy, because I don't want to see you sad."

She kissed him. "I'll do my best."

Then she closed her eyes, and soon she fell asleep with her head still on Charlie's shoulder.

Nikki had realised that life at the Burrow wasn't very different from life in an ordinary Muggle family. Well, apart from the fact that magic was part of everyday life. Each day she found new things to marvel at; Quidditch for example. She also had to get used to kitchen supplies doing their work on their own accord, and Bill and the others doing magic.

Being the only Muggle, and thus the only non-magic person, at the Burrow Nikki sometimes felt somewhat excluded. Even though everybody seemed to like her and made her feel welcome she felt like an outsider by the fact that the others shared something she was not part of. They spoke the same language; they were familiar with things, places and people she had never even heard about.

She was sitting in the garden talking to Louise, when Bill and Charlie came over to them. It turned out that Charlie needed Louise's help with a birthday present for Ginny, so she and Bill were left alone.

"So, when's Ginny's birthday?" she asked.

"In August."

"And why does Charlie need help with her gift three months in advance? Is it something big he's planning?"

"Not really, no."

"I hope they'll come up with something good. By the way, want to take a walk?"

"A walk sounds good, so yes."

They left the garden, and after a few minutes they arrived at a group of birches. Bill lay down under one of the trees, and Nikki did the same.

"I come here when I need some privacy," Bill said. "You don't get a lot of that with nine people or more around."

"I wish I would have had a place like this to go to at home, in Manchester."

"Then you should see Hogwarts. It's amazing."

"But I can't, can I? Doesn't it have charms and stuff protecting it from Muggles?" Nikki asked, disappointed. Bill had told her about his old school, and she would really like to see it.

"Unfortunately it does."

"Shame."

"But you've seen pictures, haven't you?"

Nikki rolled over on her stomach, facing Bill. "That's not the same, duh."

"I know. And I really wish I could take you there."

"Ha! You'd just leave me as soon as you knew I wouldn't be able to find my way back to the entrance."

"Now that you mention it that would have been a great idea," Bill said, smiling slyly.

"I bet. Too bad that you won't get the chance," Nikki retorted.

Bill laughed. "I guess I deserved that," he said and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"You know, if this had been a movie this would be the right moment to kiss me."

Nikki had meant it to be a joke, but to her surprise Bill did just that. Suddenly his lips were on hers, and without thinking Nikki responded to the kiss.

Bill was the one who broke the kiss. They looked at eachother for a couple of seconds, and Nikki could see surprise in his eyes. She too was surprised. Kissing him had felt as natural as holding hands and cuddle, and she could not understand why. They were only supposed to be friends, weren't they?

She was brought back to reality when Bill spoke. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What are we? Really?"

Before the kiss she would have said that they were friends, but now she was not so sure. The kiss had definitely woken something inside her. "I don't know. Do you?"

"Well... Actually it was my dear brother who pointed out that there was more than friendship between us, and maybe he's right. So what would you say if I suggested that we could try to figure out if this hunch of his is something worth building a relationship on?"

What if Bill was wrong, what if they were just meant to be friends? But, Nikki thought, why else did it feel so good to hold him, to be held by him, to kiss him? They had something special, and she would be a fool if she did not want to find out exactly what that special thing was.

"I'd definitely have to say yes."

"Are you sure? Just because I think there might be something else between us it doesn't mean that you have to agree with me. And if you don't I want you to tell me."

"No, I'm sure."

"So... does that mean that we're going out?"

"I guess so."

They smiled at eachother, and Bill hugged her. "Let's just take things one day at a time."

"That sounds like a good plan."

They kissed again, and an hour later they left the birches. Nikki rested his head against Bill's shoulder, and he held an arm around her waist.

When they came back to the Burrow Charlie and Louise were nowhere to be seen.

"They're probably inside, not wanting to be disturbed," Bill said.

"So that's the first thing you think about when your brother and his girlfriend aren't in the garden?"

"Yes, wouldn't you?"

"No. And there is only one way to find out, isn't there?"

"You mean walk in on them having sex on the livingroom floor or on the kitchen table?"

Nikki laughed. "Well, if you want to put it that way. Besides, I'm thirsty."

Once inside they were not surprised to find the house completely quiet. Apparently the others had not returned from Diagon Alley, and Charlie and Louise were nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe they're in your and Charlie's bedroom," Nikki said.

Quietly she and Bill tiptoed upstairs. The door to Charlie and Bill's room was closed, and Bill put his ear to it.

"Not a sound," he whispered.

"Maybe they've gone for a walk or something."

Slowly Bill pushed the door open, and the sight that met them made him and Nikki smile. Charlie and Louise lay on Charlie's bed, sleeping peacefully.

"Let's go, so we don't wake them," Bill whispered.

Quietly they closed the door again and padded downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 9**

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"A Butterbeer if you've got any."

Nikki sat on the couch in Bill's living room, twirling his wand between her fingers. It was his first night back in Cairo since the Triwizard Tournament, and he had wanted to see her.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked when he returned, holding two bottles of Butterbeer.

Bill sat down beside her. Nikki leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder as he handed her one of the bottles.

"You-Know-Who is back," he begun, and told her what had happened at the Tournament.

Nikki listened without saying a word. Bill had told her about the most feared wizard of all times, and she wondered what would happen to her and the rest of the Muggles if there would be another war. Would Lord Voldemort and his followers go after them this time too, or would they concentrate on the Wizarding World?

"But what's going to happen now?"

Bill took a swig of Butterbeer. "We can just wait and see. And I've been thinking about going home. I will defenitely move back if I can get a job at Gringotts in London or work full time for the Order."

Even though Nikki understood that he wanted to be closer to home it still came as a surprise to her. She felt her heart sink. What about them? Their relationship? Was he going to break up with her?

"But... what about us?"

"You could get a job in London too."

Nikki, relieved by the fact that Bill wanted her to move back to England with him, concidered this. There was just one problem.

"But where would I live? It's expensive and hard to find a flat in London, and I don't know anyone there well enough to ask if I can move in with them."

"How about staying at the Burrow?"

"You mean with your parents?"

"I'm sure they'd love to have you."

"I'd love to stay with them, but it's too far from London if I would get a job there. And I don't know if I'll find a job somewhere in Ottery St. Catchpole."

"You could see if you find anything. Unless you want to stay here?"

"No. Cairo's great, but I don't want to live here forever. And Mum and Dad will be happy. If I move back to Manchester, that is."

"So they won't like it if you move to London or Ottery St. Catchpole?"

"Well, they know that they can't decide where I should live, but they'd be happy if I move back home."

"And I'd be happy if you move to London or the Burrow," Bill said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You can come with me if I get a job at Gringotts. Then you can look for a job too."

Nikki bit her bottomlip thoughtfully. "I'll check with Christine and see what she says." She squeezed his hand. Maybe everything would work out after all. As long as she and Bill had each other everything would be fine.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm knackered," Louise proclaimed. It was past ten PM, and she and Charlie were sitting together with some friends at a table outside the dining hall. She yawned and rose. "I'm going to bed."

Charlie rose as well. "I think I'll join you."

They said goodnight to the others and walked towards the barracks. Louise yawned again.

"So I take it that I won't get any tonight," Charlie said, running a hand down her back.

Louise looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You could try and convince me that I'm not too tired."

Charlie kissed her. "Good start?"

"Defenitely." Louise kissed him back, and buried her hands in his hair.

She was about to kiss him again when an unfamiliar owl landed on the ground beside them and hooted. Charlie let go of Louise, bent down and untied the letter attached to the leg it held out. His expression quickly changed from one of eagerness to one of disbelief as he read it.

"What's wrong?" Louise asked.

Without a word Charlie handed her the parchment. She read,

"_Dear Charlie,_

_I am afraid I have some bad news. I don't know if you have already heard, but Harry won the Triwizard Tournament. I am so proud of him! However, there was an incident during the third task._

_Harry and Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion, reached the cup at the same time. Harry says that they took hold of it together and that it had been turned into a Portkey. Apparently they were taken to a church yard, and there Cedric was killed. He was killed by You-Know-Who. Harry says that he saw him, and that he spoke to him. I really wish I had some better news, but I don't. You-Know-Who is back, and fortunately Harry managed to get to the cup and return to Hogwarts before he was killed._

_Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe that He has come back. He says that there is no need to alarm people before we know if it's really true, and that we should not believe Harry; that he has been under a lot of stress lately and does not know what he is saying. Luckily Dumbledore believes him. He will contact your father and me as soon as he has made the first necessary arrangements._

_I had hoped that it would be over by now; that we wouldn't have to face another war like the last one. However, if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has come back again I don't know if another war can be avoided._

_Don't come home just because of this one letter. Your Dad and I will wait for Dumbledore's orders, and I will contact you as soon as I know what we are to do._

_Love, Mum"_

Louise reread the letter, but she still had a hard time believing it. No one had seen him in almost fifteen years. He could not be back, not after all this time. But evidently Harry had seen him, so then it must be true.

When she looked at Charlie she noticed a determination in his eyes she had only seen on rare occasions.

"I need to go home. If Harry says that He is back it's true, and I know that Mum would like everybody to be home now, despite of what she says."

Louise folded the letter. "At least wait until tomorrow. The Apparition and Portkey points are closed at this time anyway."

"I have to pack."

Louise in tow he hurried to his room. He rummaged through his closet, got a bag and started throwing robes and other pieces of clothing into it haphazardly. Louise, who had never seen him so distressed before, went over to him.

"Charlie, calm down. Please. Sit down, I'll do that."

He looked as if he was about to protest, but didn't say anything when she pushed him down onto the bed. She repacked his bag, folding the clothes properly before sitting down beside him.

"Is there anything else you want to take with you?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I'll talk to Walter if you want. I can say that you had to go home because your Mum is seriously ill or something, and ask if you can take some time off." Louise caressed his back, hoping that it would soothe him. "Now let's go to bed and try and get some sleep. Okay?"

It was not even seven o'clock when Charlie woke up the next morning. He felt Louise's warm body beside him, and when his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he could see that she was still sleeping. Carefully he got out of bed and dressed quickly before waking her.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, peering up at him through eyelids heavy with sleep.

"Five to seven. I'm going to have breakfast, want to come?"

Louise stretched and yawned before she got out of bed and dressed. They had breakfast together, and after the quick meal it was time for Charlie to leave.

"I'll owl you when I get home."

Louise hugged him. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. Promise you'll take care, okay?"

"You too."

After a quick kiss Charlie Apparated to the Portkey point in Bucharest. It was packed with people, and to his annoyance he had to wait for over half an hour before there was a Portkey to London.

When he finally came to Diagon Alley he Apparated home, and a moment later he was standing in the kitchen of the Burrow. Nobody was downstairs. The only thing he heard was the poltergeist in the attic, banging on its pipes.

"Shut up," Charlie muttered and put his bag down by the front door. "Anybody home?" he called to no one in perticaular.

He heard his mum's voice from upstairs. "Charlie, is that you?" She hurried downstairs, and hugged him tightly. "Why are you home? Why didn't you tell us you'd come?"

"I didn't have time. I don't want to sit in the Romanian outback not knowing what goes on at home."

That earned him another hug. "I'm glad you're home. Bill will come home too, he has talked about getting a desk job at Gringotts in London."

Charlie hadn't been told about Bill's plans, but he was glad that he had decided to come home too. That meant that the whole family would be gathered for the summer, when Fred, George, Ron and Ginny came back from Hogwarts.

He spent the rest of the day helping his mum around the house. He could tell that she was worried, but she did her best not to let it show. That worried him. What if this affected her more than he knew? And what would happen now when You-Know-Who was back? The last time he had been alive Charlie had been a child, but he still remembered the fear. He had been too young to fully understand what was going on, but what he had understood was that the Dark wizard trying to take over the Wizarding World was really dangerous.

"All right," Kingsley Shacklebolt said. "So we'll use Sirius' house as Headquarters. There will be enough room, and Arthur, Molly and the children will be able to stay there now during the summer."

"When do we move there?"

"As soon as possible. Sirius, is it inhabitable?"

"Well... I wouldn't go as far as to call it inhabitable, but I'm sure we'll be able to do something about it."

"Good, good. Molly, could you have a look at it and see what needs to be done? Can you go to London tomorrow?"

"Of course, if Sirius has the time to show me around the house."

"I have all the time in the world, Molly. Just pick a time."

"How about ten tomorrow morning?"

"Suits me just fine."

"Good," Kingsley said. "So Molly goes to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. Now, Bill, about the Goblins. Have you been able to find something out?"

"No, not yet. It's hard to get something out of them without asking direct questions, and I don't want to do that. Not yet. It might make them suspicious."

"Yes, you're right. Well, keep trying. I'm sure you will get something out of them eventually. Sturgis. How are the Aurors doing?"

With the conversation turned to the Aurors Bill tuned out. He was sitting in the living room of the The Burrow, with Charlie, their parents and various other members of the Order of the Phoenix; an Order originally formed during the last war. Bill had knewn that his parents had been part of a group fighting You-Know-Who, but it was not until now he had realised that it had been such a large organization. They had begun to recruit old and new members, and he hoped that they would have a better chance against He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers than last time.

He had been home for a week now, about as long as Charlie. He would go back to Romania soon, though. Bill, however, had decided to stay in England. A couple of days ago he had even been to Gringotts in Diagon Alley to ask for a job. In the end it had been decided that he would take care of some of the book keeping, and it would also be his job to break curses in and around Gringotts if ever necesarry. His new position would help him to keep an eye on his new co-workers, and he would also try and determine which side they were on.

The fact that he had managed to get a job in London had calmed him down conciderably. He would be cloer to his family, and able to help out whenever needed. The only downside with his new job was that he would not be seeing as much of Nikki as before. She had said that she wanted to move back to England if he did, but finding her a job and a flat in London was a completely different matter.

Once the meeting was over and everybody had left Bill went to bed. He had just climbed into bed when Charlie came into the room. They were sharing their old room, and Bill enjoyed it. It was almost like before, when they were kids.

"Are you awake?" Charlie asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"_Lumos!"_ Charlie lit his wand in order to see what he was doing. He was soon in bed, and Bill could hear him pull the covers over him.

"This is almost like before."

"Remember when we were kids, and used to yell for Mum and Dad to come and say good night just one more time?"

"Yeah, just because we wanted to see how many times we could make them tuck us in."

"Wonder what they'd say if we did that now," Bill mused.

Charlie laughed. "They'd probably think we were nuts."

"But in Mum's eyes we'll always be three years old."

Charlie propped his head up on one hand, looking at Bill. "So, are you saying that you think she _would_ come up here then?"

"You know it, brother mine."

They both chuckled, and Bill realised how much he had missed this. He couldn't count the number of late night conversation he and Charlie had had over the years. "Seriously though," he said, "I know Mum's having kittens about us joining the Order."

Charlie sighed "I know. She took me aside earlier this evening to ask me to think about how this will affect things with Louise."

"So you got the talk too, then. She gave it to me after breakfast, when you went with Dad to look in his shed. It's a bit different for me though. She likes Nikki well enough, and even though she's not saying out loud, she's concerned about how Nikki being a Muggle is going to affect things."

"D'you think it will affect your relationship?"

"I hope not," Bill answered promptly. "She'll move here too, now that I've gotten that job at Gringotts."

"Has she found a job too?"

"No, not yet. She'll start looking for one and somewhere to live when she gets here."

"But can't she stay at Grimmauld Place with you?"

Bill concidered this. "You know, that's actually a good idea. What about Louise then? Have you discussed moving here or staying in Romania?"

"We haven't had time. I left the morning after I got the owl. But I guess we'll stay in Romania, since Dumbledore wants us to."

"You think she'll want to join the Order?"

"I don't know. Hope she doesn't. I don't want her to put herself in danger."

"But she might be in danger even if she doesn't join, you know," Bill pointed out.

"I know! And that's what scares me. I don't want to lose her."

"I know what you mean. I don't want to lose Nikki either."

"At least she can't join the Order. Since she's a Muggle, I mean."

"No, but there's no guarantee that He won't go after Muggles this time too."

"I think they'll be quite safe. I mean, he won't go after every Muggle in every town in England. But you know what? We should try and get some sleep."

"Probably. Nightie night."

"Nightie night."

Louise sat on her bed, staring unseeingly in front of her. Charlie had been away for a week, and she hadn't heard much from him since he left Romania. He had only sent her a couple of owls saying that everything was fine. Louise knew that it was supposed to calm her down, but it had quite the opposite effect. She understood if he wasn't able to tell her a lot in his letters, and the problem was that it made her even more worried.

Ever since she was a child Louise had known about He Who Must Not Be Named. She knew what damage he had caused, and the fact that he was back scared her. That was why she had decided to go to England, since she couldn't stand being in Romania when Charlie was at home, in the middle of everything.

Louise had not told Walter the real reason why she wanted to go, since she had the feeling that it would not be... well, apropriate, to tell him that He Who Must Not Be Named was back. He wouldn't believe her anyway. Instead she had said that Mrs Weasley was very ill, and that she wanted to be there for Charlie and his family. Fortunately Walter had allowed her to take a week off, something for which Louise was profoundly grateful. She rose from the bed, picked up her bag and Apparated out of her room. Half an hour later she was on her way to England. No one knew that she was coming. She had not mentioned her plans, suspecting that Charlie only would have told her to stay in Romania.

As she Apparated outside the Burrow she saw that the lights were on in the living room and the kitchen, so someone must be home. Relieved she knocked on the front door.

It was opened by Mr Weasley.

"Louise, hi! What are you doing here?" He looked surprised by seeing her, and Louise hoped that she had not come at an inconvenient time. "Has something happened?"

"No, Mr Weasley, nothing has happened. I just couldn't stay in Romania. Not with Charlie and the rest of you here in England."

Mr Weasley stepped away from the doorway. "Come on in. Everyone's in the living room."

"Thanks." Louise smiled at him and levitated her bag inside.

"You can leave your things here," Mr Weasley said as he closed the door behind her.

Just then Charlie came into the kitchen. When he saw Louise he came over to her and gave her a brief hug. "Hi hun, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to be here with you and the others," Louise replied, slightly taken aback by the fact that he did not even give her a proper hug.

"You shouldn't be here. Come, we need to talk."

Sensing that something was wrong Louise followed Charlie outside. What did he mean by that she should not be there? She waited for him to say something, but he was quiet until they had reached the far end of the garden. Then he stopped and turned towards her.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in Romania?"

His harsh tone made the old insecurity wash over Louise. What was wrong? What had she done?

"Yes, you did, but..."

Charlie cut her off, "Because I want you to be safe for as long as possible!"

"I know! But I didn't want to stay there, not knowing if you and your family might be in danger without me being able to do something about it!"

"But the chance of you being able to do anything if we really were in danger is close to nothing anyway!"

"But I'd rather be here when it happens, than in Romania receiving an owl about it three days later!" Why was it so hard for him to understand that she wanted to be with him and his family now? It was as if she had done something wrong in coming to England.

"But at least you'll be safe!" Charlie protested. "Go back to Romania. I'll be back in a couple of days anyway."

Now Louise started to lose her patience. "I'm not going back! Not when I've come all the way here!"

"Yes, you are! And you're staying there until..."

"Maybe I'll actually do that!" Now it was Louise's turn to cut Charlie off. She even managed to keep her voice even, despite the fact that he had raised his voice against her. "And let you mind your own business! You're not happy to see me anyway."

Charlie opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead he turned and walked back towards the house. Louise sat down on the grass, confused and disappointed. She wrapped her arms around her knees, suddenly feeling very small. What had she done wrong? She could understand if Charlie was worried, but it was a completely different thing to tell her that he did not want her there. She might as well return to Romania right away, but she could not bring herself to get her bag and go. She just sat there in the dark, feeling confused and disappointed.

When the front door suddenly burst open Bill and the others saw Charlie storm inside. He went straight upstairs, slamming the door to his and Bill's bedroom shut. He could see that the others, too, wondered what was going on. Where was Louise? They waited for her, but when she didn't show up Bill decided to check on her. It was Charlie's job to make up with her if they had been fighting, but he still wanted to make sure that she was all right.

He went out into the garden, and soon he saw Louise sitting under a large bush. She had pulled up her legs in front of her and rested her chin on her knees. When he got closer she looked up, a surprised look on her face as she saw him.

"Hey." Bill sat down beside her. "What happened? When Charlie came back in he just went up to our room."

Louise swallowed and looked out over the garden. "He wants me to go back to Romania."

She told him what had happened, and to Bill it didn't sound like Charlie at all. Why had he told Louise to go back to Romania, now when she had come the whole way to England?

"Why doesn't he understand that I can't stay there when something like this is going on?" Bill had the feeling that the question was directed to herself as much as to him. "He wasn't even happy to see me."

"I'm sure he was," he said firmly, trying to assure her that everything was all right. "I guess he's just worried, he doesn't want anything to happen to you."

"But he said I shouldn't have come."

"Yes, because he's worried. But I'm sure he's happy to see you."

Louise looked up into the dark, starry sky and blinked. "Why didn't he say so then? If you're happy to see someone you tell them, don't you?"

Bill had to agree.

"I might as well go back to Romania right away," she continued gloomily.

He understood that she was disappointed; he would have felt the same way if Nikki had told him to go back to where he came from in a situation like this. But he didn't want her to give up that easily. He was sure that if she talked to Charlie they would be able to sort it out.

"No, I think you should stay. Talk to him, you'll see that I'm right."

Louise gave him a sceptical look and said nothing.

"Please. He's my brother, I know him." Bill rose and held out his hands.

Louise took them, and allowed him to pull her to her feet. They walked around the house and through the front door, and as she hesitated at the foot of the stairs he gave her a nudge and a reassuring smile.

"Go on. I guess he's still in our room."

Louise slowly walked up the stairs, and on his way back to he living room Bill inwardly cursed his brother for not handling things a bit more smoothly. Charlie sometimes had a habit of making things come out in a way he did not intend, and that had gotten him into trouble more than once. And no wonder Louise didn't feel welcome when he behaved like that.

Charlie was sitting on his bed, staring out the window and knowing that he should go out and see if Louise was still there. He hoped she would be, because he really was happy that she had come. But he knew that it was safer in Romania. That was why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow without telling him that she intended to come.

There was a soft knock on the door, and when he looked up she saw Louise stand in the doorway.

"Hi."

Charlie smiled at her and patted the bed beside him. "Hi. Come here."

Louise walked over to the bed and sat down, looking almost as if she expected another telling off. Charlie wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you," he mumbled. "I'm really glad you're here."

He felt Louise relax against him. "Romania might be safer," she said, "but I don't want to sit there, not knowing what's going on here and if you're alive or dead."

"I won't get rid of you, will I?"

"No."

Charlie turned her face towards him and kissed her. "Good, I'd rather have you here. Shall we get your bag?"

Louise smiled at him, got off the bed and opened the door to the room. She held out her wand. _"Accio bag!"_

Charlie smirked. "A bit lazy, are we?"

Louise yawned. "Tired."

She took hold of her bag that came soaring through the air, and put it in a corner before Charlie took her downstairs. She was introduced to everyone she had not met before, and told. about the Order of the Phoenix. Charlie knew that she had never heard of it, but she decided right away that she wanted to help him recruit new members among those working at the dragon reserve.

At eleven thirty Mr Weasley declared that it was time for bed. Now that Louise had arrived she needed somewhere to sleep, and Charlie wasn't sure if Bill would appreciate it if Louise shared their room.

"I'll take another room," he offered when Charlie brought it up.

Fifteen minutes later Charlie and Louise lay in bed. He still didn't know why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow, and he hoped that she was not too upset with him. After all she had only done what she thought was right.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"A Butterbeer if you've got any."

Nikki sat on the couch in Bill's living room, twirling his wand between her fingers. It was his first night back in Cairo since the Triwizard Tournament, and he had wanted to see her.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked when he returned, holding two bottles of Butterbeer.

Bill sat down beside her. Nikki leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder as he handed her one of the bottles.

"You-Know-Who is back," he begun, and told her what had happened at the Tournament.

Nikki listened without saying a word. Bill had told her about the most feared wizard of all times, and she wondered what would happen to her and the rest of the Muggles if there would be another war. Would Lord Voldemort and his followers go after them this time too, or would they concentrate on the Wizarding World?

"But what's going to happen now?"

Bill took a swig of Butterbeer. "We can just wait and see. And I've been thinking about going home. I will defenitely move back if I can get a job at Gringotts in London or work full time for the Order."

Even though Nikki understood that he wanted to be closer to home it still came as a surprise to her. She felt her heart sink. What about them? Their relationship? Was he going to break up with her?

"But... what about us?"

"You could get a job in London too."

Nikki, relieved by the fact that Bill wanted her to move back to England with him, concidered this. There was just one problem.

"But where would I live? It's expensive and hard to find a flat in London, and I don't know anyone there well enough to ask if I can move in with them."

"How about staying at the Burrow?"

"You mean with your parents?"

"I'm sure they'd love to have you."

"I'd love to stay with them, but it's too far from London if I would get a job there. And I don't know if I'll find a job somewhere in Ottery St. Catchpole."

"You could see if you find anything. Unless you want to stay here?"

"No. Cairo's great, but I don't want to live here forever. And Mum and Dad will be happy. If I move back to Manchester, that is."

"So they won't like it if you move to London or Ottery St. Catchpole?"

"Well, they know that they can't decide where I should live, but they'd be happy if I move back home."

"And I'd be happy if you move to London or the Burrow," Bill said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You can come with me if I get a job at Gringotts. Then you can look for a job too."

Nikki bit her bottomlip thoughtfully. "I'll check with Christine and see what she says." She squeezed his hand. Maybe everything would work out after all. As long as she and Bill had each other everything would be fine.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm knackered," Louise proclaimed. It was past ten PM, and she and Charlie were sitting together with some friends at a table outside the dining hall. She yawned and rose. "I'm going to bed."

Charlie rose as well. "I think I'll join you."

They said goodnight to the others and walked towards the barracks. Louise yawned again.

"So I take it that I won't get any tonight," Charlie said, running a hand down her back.

Louise looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You could try and convince me that I'm not too tired."

Charlie kissed her. "Good start?"

"Defenitely." Louise kissed him back, and buried her hands in his hair.

She was about to kiss him again when an unfamiliar owl landed on the ground beside them and hooted. Charlie let go of Louise, bent down and untied the letter attached to the leg it held out. His expression quickly changed from one of eagerness to one of disbelief as he read it.

"What's wrong?" Louise asked.

Without a word Charlie handed her the parchment. She read,

"_Dear Charlie,_

_I am afraid I have some bad news. I don't know if you have already heard, but Harry won the Triwizard Tournament. I am so proud of him! However, there was an incident during the third task._

_Harry and Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion, reached the cup at the same time. Harry says that they took hold of it together and that it had been turned into a Portkey. Apparently they were taken to a church yard, and there Cedric was killed. He was killed by You-Know-Who. Harry says that he saw him, and that he spoke to him. I really wish I had some better news, but I don't. You-Know-Who is back, and fortunately Harry managed to get to the cup and return to Hogwarts before he was killed._

_Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe that He has come back. He says that there is no need to alarm people before we know if it's really true, and that we should not believe Harry; that he has been under a lot of stress lately and does not know what he is saying. Luckily Dumbledore believes him. He will contact your father and me as soon as he has made the first necessary arrangements._

_I had hoped that it would be over by now; that we wouldn't have to face another war like the last one. However, if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has come back again I don't know if another war can be avoided._

_Don't come home just because of this one letter. Your Dad and I will wait for Dumbledore's orders, and I will contact you as soon as I know what we are to do._

_Love, Mum"_

Louise reread the letter, but she still had a hard time believing it. No one had seen him in almost fifteen years. He could not be back, not after all this time. But evidently Harry had seen him, so then it must be true.

When she looked at Charlie she noticed a determination in his eyes she had only seen on rare occasions.

"I need to go home. If Harry says that He is back it's true, and I know that Mum would like everybody to be home now, despite of what she says."

Louise folded the letter. "At least wait until tomorrow. The Apparition and Portkey points are closed at this time anyway."

"I have to pack."

Louise in tow he hurried to his room. He rummaged through his closet, got a bag and started throwing robes and other pieces of clothing into it haphazardly. Louise, who had never seen him so distressed before, went over to him.

"Charlie, calm down. Please. Sit down, I'll do that."

He looked as if he was about to protest, but didn't say anything when she pushed him down onto the bed. She repacked his bag, folding the clothes properly before sitting down beside him.

"Is there anything else you want to take with you?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I'll talk to Walter if you want. I can say that you had to go home because your Mum is seriously ill or something, and ask if you can take some time off." Louise caressed his back, hoping that it would soothe him. "Now let's go to bed and try and get some sleep. Okay?"

It was not even seven o'clock when Charlie woke up the next morning. He felt Louise's warm body beside him, and when his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he could see that she was still sleeping. Carefully he got out of bed and dressed quickly before waking her.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, peering up at him through eyelids heavy with sleep.

"Five to seven. I'm going to have breakfast, want to come?"

Louise stretched and yawned before she got out of bed and dressed. They had breakfast together, and after the quick meal it was time for Charlie to leave.

"I'll owl you when I get home."

Louise hugged him. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. Promise you'll take care, okay?"

"You too."

After a quick kiss Charlie Apparated to the Portkey point in Bucharest. It was packed with people, and to his annoyance he had to wait for over half an hour before there was a Portkey to London.

When he finally came to Diagon Alley he Apparated home, and a moment later he was standing in the kitchen of the Burrow. Nobody was downstairs. The only thing he heard was the poltergeist in the attic, banging on its pipes.

"Shut up," Charlie muttered and put his bag down by the front door. "Anybody home?" he called to no one in perticaular.

He heard his mum's voice from upstairs. "Charlie, is that you?" She hurried downstairs, and hugged him tightly. "Why are you home? Why didn't you tell us you'd come?"

"I didn't have time. I don't want to sit in the Romanian outback not knowing what goes on at home."

That earned him another hug. "I'm glad you're home. Bill will come home too, he has talked about getting a desk job at Gringotts in London."

Charlie hadn't been told about Bill's plans, but he was glad that he had decided to come home too. That meant that the whole family would be gathered for the summer, when Fred, George, Ron and Ginny came back from Hogwarts.

He spent the rest of the day helping his mum around the house. He could tell that she was worried, but she did her best not to let it show. That worried him. What if this affected her more than he knew? And what would happen now when You-Know-Who was back? The last time he had been alive Charlie had been a child, but he still remembered the fear. He had been too young to fully understand what was going on, but what he had understood was that the Dark wizard trying to take over the Wizarding World was really dangerous.

"All right," Kingsley Shacklebolt said. "So we'll use Sirius' house as Headquarters. There will be enough room, and Arthur, Molly and the children will be able to stay there now during the summer."

"When do we move there?"

"As soon as possible. Sirius, is it inhabitable?"

"Well... I wouldn't go as far as to call it inhabitable, but I'm sure we'll be able to do something about it."

"Good, good. Molly, could you have a look at it and see what needs to be done? Can you go to London tomorrow?"

"Of course, if Sirius has the time to show me around the house."

"I have all the time in the world, Molly. Just pick a time."

"How about ten tomorrow morning?"

"Suits me just fine."

"Good," Kingsley said. "So Molly goes to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. Now, Bill, about the Goblins. Have you been able to find something out?"

"No, not yet. It's hard to get something out of them without asking direct questions, and I don't want to do that. Not yet. It might make them suspicious."

"Yes, you're right. Well, keep trying. I'm sure you will get something out of them eventually. Sturgis. How are the Aurors doing?"

With the conversation turned to the Aurors Bill tuned out. He was sitting in the living room of the The Burrow, with Charlie, their parents and various other members of the Order of the Phoenix; an Order originally formed during the last war. Bill had knewn that his parents had been part of a group fighting You-Know-Who, but it was not until now he had realised that it had been such a large organization. They had begun to recruit old and new members, and he hoped that they would have a better chance against He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers than last time.

He had been home for a week now, about as long as Charlie. He would go back to Romania soon, though. Bill, however, had decided to stay in England. A couple of days ago he had even been to Gringotts in Diagon Alley to ask for a job. In the end it had been decided that he would take care of some of the book keeping, and it would also be his job to break curses in and around Gringotts if ever necesarry. His new position would help him to keep an eye on his new co-workers, and he would also try and determine which side they were on.

The fact that he had managed to get a job in London had calmed him down conciderably. He would be cloer to his family, and able to help out whenever needed. The only downside with his new job was that he would not be seeing as much of Nikki as before. She had said that she wanted to move back to England if he did, but finding her a job and a flat in London was a completely different matter.

Once the meeting was over and everybody had left Bill went to bed. He had just climbed into bed when Charlie came into the room. They were sharing their old room, and Bill enjoyed it. It was almost like before, when they were kids.

"Are you awake?" Charlie asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"_Lumos!"_ Charlie lit his wand in order to see what he was doing. He was soon in bed, and Bill could hear him pull the covers over him.

"This is almost like before."

"Remember when we were kids, and used to yell for Mum and Dad to come and say good night just one more time?"

"Yeah, just because we wanted to see how many times we could make them tuck us in."

"Wonder what they'd say if we did that now," Bill mused.

Charlie laughed. "They'd probably think we were nuts."

"But in Mum's eyes we'll always be three years old."

Charlie propped his head up on one hand, looking at Bill. "So, are you saying that you think she _would_ come up here then?"

"You know it, brother mine."

They both chuckled, and Bill realised how much he had missed this. He couldn't count the number of late night conversation he and Charlie had had over the years. "Seriously though," he said, "I know Mum's having kittens about us joining the Order."

Charlie sighed "I know. She took me aside earlier this evening to ask me to think about how this will affect things with Louise."

"So you got the talk too, then. She gave it to me after breakfast, when you went with Dad to look in his shed. It's a bit different for me though. She likes Nikki well enough, and even though she's not saying out loud, she's concerned about how Nikki being a Muggle is going to affect things."

"D'you think it will affect your relationship?"

"I hope not," Bill answered promptly. "She'll move here too, now that I've gotten that job at Gringotts."

"Has she found a job too?"

"No, not yet. She'll start looking for one and somewhere to live when she gets here."

"But can't she stay at Grimmauld Place with you?"

Bill concidered this. "You know, that's actually a good idea. What about Louise then? Have you discussed moving here or staying in Romania?"

"We haven't had time. I left the morning after I got the owl. But I guess we'll stay in Romania, since Dumbledore wants us to."

"You think she'll want to join the Order?"

"I don't know. Hope she doesn't. I don't want her to put herself in danger."

"But she might be in danger even if she doesn't join, you know," Bill pointed out.

"I know! And that's what scares me. I don't want to lose her."

"I know what you mean. I don't want to lose Nikki either."

"At least she can't join the Order. Since she's a Muggle, I mean."

"No, but there's no guarantee that He won't go after Muggles this time too."

"I think they'll be quite safe. I mean, he won't go after every Muggle in every town in England. But you know what? We should try and get some sleep."

"Probably. Nightie night."

"Nightie night."

Louise sat on her bed, staring unseeingly in front of her. Charlie had been away for a week, and she hadn't heard much from him since he left Romania. He had only sent her a couple of owls saying that everything was fine. Louise knew that it was supposed to calm her down, but it had quite the opposite effect. She understood if he wasn't able to tell her a lot in his letters, and the problem was that it made her even more worried.

Ever since she was a child Louise had known about He Who Must Not Be Named. She knew what damage he had caused, and the fact that he was back scared her. That was why she had decided to go to England, since she couldn't stand being in Romania when Charlie was at home, in the middle of everything.

Louise had not told Walter the real reason why she wanted to go, since she had the feeling that it would not be... well, apropriate, to tell him that He Who Must Not Be Named was back. He wouldn't believe her anyway. Instead she had said that Mrs Weasley was very ill, and that she wanted to be there for Charlie and his family. Fortunately Walter had allowed her to take a week off, something for which Louise was profoundly grateful. She rose from the bed, picked up her bag and Apparated out of her room. Half an hour later she was on her way to England. No one knew that she was coming. She had not mentioned her plans, suspecting that Charlie only would have told her to stay in Romania.

As she Apparated outside the Burrow she saw that the lights were on in the living room and the kitchen, so someone must be home. Relieved she knocked on the front door.

It was opened by Mr Weasley.

"Louise, hi! What are you doing here?" He looked surprised by seeing her, and Louise hoped that she had not come at an inconvenient time. "Has something happened?"

"No, Mr Weasley, nothing has happened. I just couldn't stay in Romania. Not with Charlie and the rest of you here in England."

Mr Weasley stepped away from the doorway. "Come on in. Everyone's in the living room."

"Thanks." Louise smiled at him and levitated her bag inside.

"You can leave your things here," Mr Weasley said as he closed the door behind her.

Just then Charlie came into the kitchen. When he saw Louise he came over to her and gave her a brief hug. "Hi hun, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to be here with you and the others," Louise replied, slightly taken aback by the fact that he did not even give her a proper hug.

"You shouldn't be here. Come, we need to talk."

Sensing that something was wrong Louise followed Charlie outside. What did he mean by that she should not be there? She waited for him to say something, but he was quiet until they had reached the far end of the garden. Then he stopped and turned towards her.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in Romania?"

His harsh tone made the old insecurity wash over Louise. What was wrong? What had she done?

"Yes, you did, but..."

Charlie cut her off, "Because I want you to be safe for as long as possible!"

"I know! But I didn't want to stay there, not knowing if you and your family might be in danger without me being able to do something about it!"

"But the chance of you being able to do anything if we really were in danger is close to nothing anyway!"

"But I'd rather be here when it happens, than in Romania receiving an owl about it three days later!" Why was it so hard for him to understand that she wanted to be with him and his family now? It was as if she had done something wrong in coming to England.

"But at least you'll be safe!" Charlie protested. "Go back to Romania. I'll be back in a couple of days anyway."

Now Louise started to lose her patience. "I'm not going back! Not when I've come all the way here!"

"Yes, you are! And you're staying there until..."

"Maybe I'll actually do that!" Now it was Louise's turn to cut Charlie off. She even managed to keep her voice even, despite the fact that he had raised his voice against her. "And let you mind your own business! You're not happy to see me anyway."

Charlie opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead he turned and walked back towards the house. Louise sat down on the grass, confused and disappointed. She wrapped her arms around her knees, suddenly feeling very small. What had she done wrong? She could understand if Charlie was worried, but it was a completely different thing to tell her that he did not want her there. She might as well return to Romania right away, but she could not bring herself to get her bag and go. She just sat there in the dark, feeling confused and disappointed.

When the front door suddenly burst open Bill and the others saw Charlie storm inside. He went straight upstairs, slamming the door to his and Bill's bedroom shut. He could see that the others, too, wondered what was going on. Where was Louise? They waited for her, but when she didn't show up Bill decided to check on her. It was Charlie's job to make up with her if they had been fighting, but he still wanted to make sure that she was all right.

He went out into the garden, and soon he saw Louise sitting under a large bush. She had pulled up her legs in front of her and rested her chin on her knees. When he got closer she looked up, a surprised look on her face as she saw him.

"Hey." Bill sat down beside her. "What happened? When Charlie came back in he just went up to our room."

Louise swallowed and looked out over the garden. "He wants me to go back to Romania."

She told him what had happened, and to Bill it didn't sound like Charlie at all. Why had he told Louise to go back to Romania, now when she had come the whole way to England?

"Why doesn't he understand that I can't stay there when something like this is going on?" Bill had the feeling that the question was directed to herself as much as to him. "He wasn't even happy to see me."

"I'm sure he was," he said firmly, trying to assure her that everything was all right. "I guess he's just worried, he doesn't want anything to happen to you."

"But he said I shouldn't have come."

"Yes, because he's worried. But I'm sure he's happy to see you."

Louise looked up into the dark, starry sky and blinked. "Why didn't he say so then? If you're happy to see someone you tell them, don't you?"

Bill had to agree.

"I might as well go back to Romania right away," she continued gloomily.

He understood that she was disappointed; he would have felt the same way if Nikki had told him to go back to where he came from in a situation like this. But he didn't want her to give up that easily. He was sure that if she talked to Charlie they would be able to sort it out.

"No, I think you should stay. Talk to him, you'll see that I'm right."

Louise gave him a sceptical look and said nothing.

"Please. He's my brother, I know him." Bill rose and held out his hands.

Louise took them, and allowed him to pull her to her feet. They walked around the house and through the front door, and as she hesitated at the foot of the stairs he gave her a nudge and a reassuring smile.

"Go on. I guess he's still in our room."

Louise slowly walked up the stairs, and on his way back to he living room Bill inwardly cursed his brother for not handling things a bit more smoothly. Charlie sometimes had a habit of making things come out in a way he did not intend, and that had gotten him into trouble more than once. And no wonder Louise didn't feel welcome when he behaved like that.

Charlie was sitting on his bed, staring out the window and knowing that he should go out and see if Louise was still there. He hoped she would be, because he really was happy that she had come. But he knew that it was safer in Romania. That was why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow without telling him that she intended to come.

There was a soft knock on the door, and when he looked up she saw Louise stand in the doorway.

"Hi."

Charlie smiled at her and patted the bed beside him. "Hi. Come here."

Louise walked over to the bed and sat down, looking almost as if she expected another telling off. Charlie wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you," he mumbled. "I'm really glad you're here."

He felt Louise relax against him. "Romania might be safer," she said, "but I don't want to sit there, not knowing what's going on here and if you're alive or dead."

"I won't get rid of you, will I?"

"No."

Charlie turned her face towards him and kissed her. "Good, I'd rather have you here. Shall we get your bag?"

Louise smiled at him, got off the bed and opened the door to the room. She held out her wand. _"Accio bag!"_

Charlie smirked. "A bit lazy, are we?"

Louise yawned. "Tired."

She took hold of her bag that came soaring through the air, and put it in a corner before Charlie took her downstairs. She was introduced to everyone she had not met before, and told. about the Order of the Phoenix. Charlie knew that she had never heard of it, but she decided right away that she wanted to help him recruit new members among those working at the dragon reserve.

At eleven thirty Mr Weasley declared that it was time for bed. Now that Louise had arrived she needed somewhere to sleep, and Charlie wasn't sure if Bill would appreciate it if Louise shared their room.

"I'll take another room," he offered when Charlie brought it up.

Fifteen minutes later Charlie and Louise lay in bed. He still didn't know why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow, and he hoped that she was not too upset with him. After all she had only done what she thought was right.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Nikki stood, together with Bill, outside the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place. She had come to London two days ago, and since then she had been staying with Bill, his parents and other assorted members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Everything would have been normal if Auror Nymphadora Tonks hadn't suggested that Nikki could join the Light side. At first Nikki had protested, but eventually Tonks had persuaded her that she would be useful to the Light side. She had even made Nikki talk to Dumbledore before the meeting, which had resulted in that she was currently standing outside the kitchen.

"Ready?" Bill asked.

Nikki nodded and took a deep breath as he reached for the door handles, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay."

As they entered everyone turned to look at them.

"This is Nikki," Bill introduced her.

Dumbledore rose and walked up to them, smiling warmly at her. He was tall, Nikki noticed as he was standing in front of her.

"Welcome, my dear," he greeted her, clasping her hand in his. "I trust that Mr. Weasley has told you why we would like to speak with you?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Excelent." He took out his wand and conjured a chair. It dropped to the floor with a soft thud. "There we are. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." Nikki manuevered the chair so that she was sitting between Bill and Tonks. She sought Bill's hand under the table, and he took it and rubbed her palm with his thumb.

"Excellent. Now that Miss Rogers is here we may continue," Dumbledore said. "Miss Rogers, I do not know how much Mr Weasley have told you about the Order of the Phoenix."

"Not very much. Just that it was formed during the last war, and that it's been rebuilt."

"You are, of course, correct. We have never had Muggles work for the Light side. However, after discussing the matter we have come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for you to join us in the Order. We also believe that we have found a suitable task for you." He paused as if to let Nikki speak, while studying her over the rim of his glasses. When she didn't say anything he continued, "You do remember our little talk earlier?"

Nikki nodded. "Yes, sir."

"The majority of the members believe that it would be beneficial to our cause to have you working for the Order. If you agree to it, we have a suitable task for you." His eyes held Nikki's, as if she were the only person in the room.

She gulped. That sounded serious. Which, she reminded herself, it probably was. There was still time for her to say no, but eventually she heard herself answer; "So, what is it that you want me to do?"

"You did mentioned that you would like a flat of your own, and we believe that said flat would serve as an ideal safe house for people on the Light side. If necessary it will also serve as a place for delivering and picking up important messages. Would you be willing to take on such a position?"

Nikki nodded, meeting his intense gaze. "Yes." If there was anything she could do to help in the war, she wanted to do it. It did not sound too difficult, just having people staying at her place. If it meant that she would get her own flat it was even better.

"I must warn you, however," Dumbledore continued, his voice more serious. "You may find yourself in danger if someone on the Dark side learns that you are assisting us. Nothing is completely without risk, and I am not yet sure what the rest of the Order members will say about this."

Nikki started chewing on her bottom lip, and squeezed Bill's hand which she was still holding. So there it was. The risk. But she couldn't very well say no now, could she? "I'm willing to... take that risk."

"Good. One of our contacts will be able to provide us with a suitable flat, which should be ready in a few days. In the meantime, may I suggest that you stay here at Grimmauld Place? I will inform you when you can move into the flat. Ah, yes… there is one other thing."

Nikki straightened in her chair, waiting for what he was going to say.

"The Order will make sure that you will get a monthly stipend so that you will be able to pay for your expenses like food and clothes."

That was something Nikki hadn't expected. She was about to say that she could get a job and pay for everything herself, but something about the look on Dumbledore's face made her pause. "Thank you. I really apreciate it," she said instead.

Dumbledore smiled. "That is settled then. Does anyone have anything else to add in this matter?"

No one spoke up, and the meeting adjourned. Some people left at once, while others stayed behind to talk. Most of them were interested in talking to Nikki, and she suspected that they wanted to know who she was.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

CRASH!

"Damn!"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Needless to say, Bill's awakening was not the most pleasant he had ever had. He opened his eyes and saw Nikki, bent over the edge of the bed. She emerged a couple of seconds later, holding the, now quiet, alarm clock.

"Mornin'," she said and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Mornin'. Time to get up already?"

"Yeah. You have to be at work in an hour."

Bill stretched, and pulled Nikki to him. He had moved in with her since she got her flat, which, in his opinion, was many times better than staying at Grimmauld Place.

"Can't we stay in bed all day?" he asked.

"No. We're going to fight the Dark forces, remember?"

"Sod them. They'll have to make do without us."

Nikki giggled as he pulled the cover over them and started tickling her.

"William Weasley, you're..."

"The worlds' most wonderful boyfriend?"

"Yes, that too. But I was thinking of saying something like get off of me and I'll make some breakfast."

Bill reluctantly let her get out of bed. When she disapeared into the kitchen he got out of bed too, and changed into his robes before joining her.

A couple of months had gone since that night after the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, when He Who Must Not Be Named had been reborn. Since then the Light side had begun to gather followers as well as information about the Dark Side, and now the Order of the Phoenix was getting well organized and prepared for what might come. They did not know anything about the You-Know-Who's whereabouts, however. Even though various members had tried to find out where he was hiding and what he was up to they had not succeeded in coming across any information that could help them. Bill suspected that he used a secret keeper, like the Order did, and in that case it would be impossible to find him if the Light Side did not capture the secret keeper and made him or her tell them where he hid. And since they did not know where You-Know-Who was hiding, they could do nothing else but wait.

Waiting seemed to be all they ever did these days, and frankly it drew Bill crazy. Sometimes he even wished that the Dark side would make its first move just so that he would not have to wait anymore. It was so unreal to imagine that He Who Must Not Be Named was back, but Bill feared that it was only a question of time before the Dark Side would make a move. He would not be surprised if Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade would be attacked first, since they were significant to the witches and wizards of Britain.

After breakfast Bill Apparated to Gringotts. As he sat at his desk with a pile of parchments in front of him he thought about what it had been like the last time You-Know-Who had been alive. The constant fear, and not knowing what would happen to the Wizarding world. And the Muggles? During the last war they had been pursued too, and now when he was going out with Nikki he was worried that it would happen again.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the worried thoughts. Nothing had happened yet, and maybe nothing would. Harry might be wrong; maybe You-Know-Who wasn't back. But who was he kidding, really? Bill knew that if Harry said that he was back it was true. And besides, he had other things to worry about. He absentmindedly bit his quill, causing feathers to come off and stick to his tongue. Grimacing and spitting he made a mental note to never bite his quills again.

When he had managed to remove the feathers he tried to concentrate on the parchemnts in front of him, knowing that he had to be done with them by lunchtime. The problem was, that he just couldn't concentrate, and the reason was as simple as it was stupid: Yasmin. Yesterday he had recieved a message from his boss, telling him that he would get a new co-worker. She would help him if the Order needed such work done. She would also work with him at Gringotts, since the Order thought that it would be useful to have two people there.

Bill could still recall the initial shock. Yasmin? Had she started working for the Light side? And what was she doing in England? She was supposed to be in Cairo, not in London! And what if they could not work together anymore, just because of what had happened between them? Those kinds of thoughts had been occupying Bill's mind for the past hours, and now it was two hours left until she would be there. He had promised their boss to take her out to lunch and show her what it was he worked with.

When the dishes were done Nikki contemplated going to Grimmauld Place. She had no one staying with her who had to hide, and everyone having to pick up or leave a secret message has their own key to her flat. She got her jacket, and headed out into the hustle and bustle of central London. People and cars were hurrying past her in both directions, and Nikki couldn't help but wonder if some of them knew about what was going on right under their very noses; that there was witches and wizards, and that a war was starting.

Thinking about the war she inevitably started thinking about her parents. She had wanted to tell them what was going on, just so they were warned, but Dumbledore had told her not to say anything about it. Nikki remembered exactly what he had said.

"_You cannot, under any circumstances, let them know about the Wizarding world. I know why you want to tell hem, but please understand that it is of more importance to keep our secrets. Should anything happen we will of course contact them, but until then I must ask you to refrain from mentioning this situation to them."_

And she had promised. Even though she really wanted them to know about this new world she now was part of, she understood the importance of keeping the Wizarding world a secret. She could only imagine the panic that would emerge through England and the rest of the world if the public suddenly found out that there were witches and wizards, and on top of that one mean wizard who wanted to kill as many of them as possible.

Walking from her flat to Grimmauld Place took less than half an hour. It would have been quicker to use floo-powder, but Nikki knew that the Dark side was watching the floo-network. Besides, she welcomed the exercise.

When she arrived at Grimmauld Place she mentally repeated what had been written on the piece of parchment Dumbledore had shown her when she had come to London, and number12 apeared betwen 11 and 13. Nikki rung the doorbell, and the door was opened by Tonks.

"Wotcher?" She winced as Mrs Black launched into one of her regular tirades, like always when disturbed. "Honestly, that woman!" She groaned, and together the two women pulled the curtains over the portrait. Tonks yawned. "Night duty," she explained. "I'm going to bed in a few minutes."

"Are you always on night duty?"

"Mostly. I tend to get the less popular shifts since I'm fairly new."

"I hope you'll get better shifts soon."

"Somehow I doubt it." Tonks made a face. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. See you around."

"Yeah, see you. By the way, where's Molly?"

"I don't know. I just got here She's probably in the kitchen, preparing lunch."

Just then Mrs Weasley opened the kitchen door. "I thought I heard the doorbell. Nicole, dear, how are you?"

"I'm fine Mrs Weasley. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. There is a lot to do, as usual. Why don't you go sit in the living room for a while, we need to finish this meeting."

"Okay."

"Sorry I can't keep you company," Tonks apologized. "But I really need to try and get some sleep."

"That's okay. Talk to you later."

"Later." And with that the young witch walked up the stairs.

When left alone again, Nikki headed towards the living room. There was nobody else there; everybody was probably at the meeting, or out doing whatever they were doing. She sank down in an arm-chair, and waited.

After a couple of minutes she rose and started walking around the room, looking at the furniture and the assortment of different objects lying around. Some of them she had never seen before, so she was careful not to touch them. The books, however, she had a closer look at. They had titles like _Practical Household Magic _and_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection. Nikki leafed through them, finding the moving pictures especially interesting. She also read about how to defend herself against Dark magic. Unfortunately there was nothing that told her how a Muggle liker herself could be protected._

Finally, after another hour, she heard voices. She rose and made her way towards the kitchen, and was greeted by the members of the Order who apparently had attended the meeting.

"Nicole, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Mrs Weasley apologized as she hugged her.

"That's all right, you couldn't very well leave the meeting. What's on the agenda for the rest of the day?"

"Well... There's lunch in a bit, and after that I have to go to the Ministry and see Arthur."

"I can help you with lunch if you want."

"No dear, that's not necesarry. But you can keep me company if you want."

Nikki in followed Mrs Weasley back into the kitchen. She would have liked to help, but Mrs Weasley always told her that she didn't need to. She never said so, but Nikki knew it was because she was a Muggle.

The fact that she was so helpless irritated her to no end. She couldn't even turn on a lamp without help!

"No, but really, I'd like to help," she insisted. She felt useless just sitting there, watching Mrs Weasley work.

"It's all right dear. I need to get lunch ready as soon as possible, and it's quicker this way." She waved her wand in different directons, causing knifes, kettles, a fryingpan, carrots potatoes and sausages to soar through the air. Nikki loved watching Bill and the others doing magic, but at the same time she felt left out. They shared something she had no part in, and sometimes she even had the feeling that some of the other Order members did not want her there. No one said anything straight out, but some of the comments she had recieved told her that some people didn't really like her being a member of the Order.

She had mentioned her suspicions to Bill, who had sugested talking to Dumbledore. She had done just that, but he had just said that she should not worry. "I'm sure they know that what you do will benefit the Order," he had said. "And none of them are against Muggles."

That had been the end of that discussion. It was with it in memory Nikki had not told Bill that she felt left out whennever being around wizards. She would only feel stupid for complaining. There was no way he could know what it felt like not to be able to do anything you were used to, since he could live a normal life in both the Muggle and Wizarding world.

Not being able to concentrate on work, Bill yawned and stretched. A short break would be good. Just five minutes. He rose and walked out of his office, dodging one of the goblins as it came walking towards him, carrying a stack of parchments.

"All right there?" he asked. He merely got a grunt in reply before the goblin disappeared around a corner. Bill smiled to himself. That was goblins for you. Never ones for idle chit chat.

"William? Hi."

Bill turned and saw Fleur Delaceur walking towards him. She had worked at Gringotts for a few weeks, and before that they had briefly met at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. Ever since he had told his family that Fleur worked at Gringotts he had been teased by Fred and George. Apparently they had found out that she had had her eyes on him during the Tournament, and they never tired of reminding him about Fleur's interest.

He smiled at her. "Hi Fleur. How are you?"

"I am fine, thankz," she said in her thick, French accent. "And you?"

"I'm fine, I'm just taking a break."

"Have you got much to do?"

"Yes, unfortunately. So, what are you doing? What department are you in?"

"I work in the Customer Service Department."

"That sounds interesting."

She nodded. "It iz. But I have to go now. I will zee you later."

"See you."

Bill looked after her, eying the slender figure. When she had disapeared around the corner he decided that the break was over, and once back in his office he made one last attempt to concentrate on his work. Now he actually managed to get the numbers straight. Proud of himself, he jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"Mr Weasley? Miss Yasmin is here."

Bill's stomach turned. Was it time already? The worst thing was, that he didn't know what to expect. He knew that he was over her, but there was a chance that things could get complicated because they had been going out.

"Show her in."

Yasmin emmerged in the doorway, looking exactly like the last time he had seen her. she walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Hi Bill! Long time no see."

He hugged her back. "Hi. Have a seat." He motioned towards the chair in front of his desk, and Yasmin sat down.

"So this is where you work?" she said, looking around the office.

"My very own office. Did you get one yet?"

"Apparently I'll share this with you since we'll work together. We'll just put in another desk."

Oh. Okay. "I didn't know that. How come no one ever tells me anything?"

Yasmin chuckled. "Poor Bill. I thought you'd be used to it by now."

"Hey, watch it or I'll have you working with the goblins instead," he threathened good-naturedly. "I thought we'd go get something to eat, and after lunch I'll show you around. That sounds okay?"

Yasmin thought that was a good idea, and Bill escorted her out of Gringotts. To his relief it wasn't awkward to see her again, and he was actually glad to have her back in his life. After all they knew each other really well, and he hoped that they would be able to become friends again.

After lunch Bill showed her around Gringotts, and told her about the work she would help him with. They also discussed the Order. It turned out that Yasmin had contacted the English Ministry of Magic to offer her help, and this was her first day officially working for the Order.

"Do you know about the Headquarters?" Bill asked.

"I know where it's located, but I haven't been there. I spoke to Dumbledore yesterday, and he had me looking at a note and everything."

"Right. In that case, why don't you come and have dinner there tonight?"

Yasmin looked surprised at first, but then she nodded. "I'd love to, if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all. Mum always cooks too much so it'll be enough for you too even if we don't tell her in advance that you'll come."

"Then I'd love to have dinner with you lot. It might give me a chance to get to know some of the other members, and your family."

An hour and a half later they Apparated in front of numbers eleven and thirteen. Bill rang the doorbell of number 12 they were greeted by Remus.

"Hi there."

"Hey. Remus, this is Yasmin, my new co-worker and also new member of the Order. Yasmin, this is Remus Lupin, another Order member."

They shook hands, and Remus took them to the kitchen where assorted Order members already were gathered. Nikki was there too, and Bill hugged her and gave her a kiss before introducing her and Yasmin to each other.

"Nikki, this is Yasmin, the newest member of the Order and my new co-worker. Yasmin, this is Nikki, my girlfriend."

Nikki smiled and extended her hand for Yasmin to shake. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Have a seat everybody, dinner's ready," Bill heard his mum call over the chatter.

He got a seat opposite Nikki and beside Yasmin. Yasmin immediately started talking to him, and since Nikki started talking to Tonks Bill continued to talk to Yasmin throughout dinner. They had a lot of catching up to do, and Bill was relieved that they seemed to be able to be friends.

After dinner Nikki excused herself and went home. Apparently she had a headache, and thought an early night would cure it. Bill spent the rest of the night with Yasmin, and when he arrived home Nikki was already asleep.

Nikki threw the old dishcloth in the garbage. It was now seven fifty, and Bill had not showed up yet. He should have been there over an hour ago, but had not even sent an owl telling her if he needed to work late.

And then a thought hit her. A very ridiculous thought indeed, but yet it was there; Yasmin. What if something was going on between Bill and her? A vision of them making love flashed before her eyes, and Nikki closed her eyes to get rid of it. That was ridiculous! Bill would not do something like that, she trusted him. But could she trust Yasmin? She had seen how she eyed Bill during that dinner at Grimmauld Place a couple of days ago, and Nikki did not like it. Normally she wasn't jealous, but the fact that they used to go out made things worse.

_She looked at them from across the table. They were sitting close together, talking amongst themselves. What was worse Nikki didn't know- being ignored by her boyfriend or the fact that he was spending the whole dinner talking to his ex-girlfriend._

_Yasmin laughed at something Bill said, and disgusted Nikki turned to Tonks again. She was sitting on Nikki's righthand side, and seemed happy to entertain her with stories from when she was in Auror training. Nikki listened and asked questions; she would never tire of hearing stories involving the Wizarding World. There was so much for her to see and learn, and the more people told her about this new world the more she felt like a part of it._

As much as she had enjoyed the conversation with Tonks, Nikki couldn't help but feeling disapointed. Bill had not talked to her at all, and not wanting to sit there and see him spend the entire night with Yasmin she had excused herself and gone home right after dinner. When Bill had asked why, she had told him that she was tired and had a headache.

Suddenly she heard the frontdoor open. "Hi love, it's me!"

Nikki stayed in the kitchen, preparing herself to tell Bill what she thought about his not telling her that he needed to work late or whatever.

"Something smells good," he said when he entered the kitchen

He gave her a hug, but Nikki, was not in the mood for cuddling. "Dinner. Yours is in the fridge, you can heat it in the microwave," she said, breaking loose.

Bill frowned at her, apparently noticing that something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

"You get home late and you don't even bother to owl me and tell me that you had to work late! Or whatever it is you've been doing."

"I'm sorry, but we were swamped with work. I didn't have the time."

"I was worried!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I promise to owl if it happens again. Now, did you say you saved some food for me?"

"Yeah, it's in the fridge." Nikki was still somewhat dismayed He didn't seem to understand the seriousness of it all. What if something had happened to him?

Bill took out the plate, containing mashed potatoes and steak and kidney pie. He pointed his wand at it. _"Incalfacio!"_

After heating the food and getting himself a glass of water Bill sat down to eat. Nikki joined him. She fiddled with the tablecloth before speaking.

"I'm not mad at you, I was just worried. Anything could've happened! Do you know what that feels like? I know that You-Know-Who is out there somewhere, and that scares me! I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, and I can't just pretend this isn't happening! I'm trying to live a normal life, and sometimes I even manage to forget that He exists, but as soon as I come to Grimmauld Place I'm reminded of it. And I'm worried about my parents. What if something happens to them? What if the Dark side finds out that they're my parents and go after them just because of that? It kills me not being able to tell them about all this. I want them to know!"

"Is this why you've been quiet lately?"

"Yeah, I guess." _Don't tell him you're jealous. It's not worth it. _

Bill sat down beside her and smothed her hair behind her ears. "I know it's hard not to think about the war, but it's only harder if you do."

Nikki leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling the warmth of his body. "I know, and I try not to. But... I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me. I promise."

_Not even to Yasmin?_ Nikki did not like the fact that the two worked together, since she knew how much Bill had loved Yasmin when they had been going out. She knew that it didn't mean that he would fall in love with her again, but the woman was good looking and charming. And way into Bill. It didn't matter how much he would deny that fact; Nikki had seen it at dinner.

"There's something else too, isn't there?" Bill asked.

Nikki hesitated. She hated the fact that he could read her like an open book. She had told him that before, and he had laughed and said that it was because he was a curse breaker.

"I don't know, it's really stupid..."

"Come on, tell me," he coaxed. "If something's bothering you it can't be stupid."

"It's just... I don't like that you work with Yasmin."

"Why? You don't like her?"

"No, it's nothing like that, it's just... I know that you really loved her, and... see, I told you it was stupid."

"It's not stupid. I think I'd feel the same way if you worked with one of your ex-boyfriends."

"You would?"

"Yeah, I would. And I can assure you, that nothing's going on between us. We're friends, that's all. You don't have to be worried."

Nikki wanted to believe him; she really did. It was just that every time she thought about Yasmin she could see her looking at Bill in a way that Nikki only could describe as seductive.

"I do trust you, but I don't know if I trust Yasmin," she said.

"Why wouldn't you trust her?"

Nikki looked him in the eyes. "She wants you. It's obvious."

"No she doesn't!"

"Yes she does! I saw you together at dinner the other night; she was eyeing you all the time." _And you gladly talked to her. Encouraged her._

"Honey, she doesn't want me. She's said so herself, that she doesn't have any feelings for me anymore."

_Yeah, as if I would believe that. _"Really?"

"Really." Bill pulled Nikki in for a massive hug and kissed her. "Don't worry. I love _you_, I wouldn't even consider going back to her even if she would want me back."

Nikki decided to trust him, but made a mental note to keep an eye on Yasmin. "Okay. But please watch her. I don't trust her."

"I will."

Nikki only hoped that he was telling the truth.

The next morning Bill arrived at work before Yasmin. The first thing he did was take out a stack of parchments from a hidden drawer in his desk. He had recieved them from Dumbledore the other day, with instructions that he should bring them to today's Order meeting.

He immediately noticed that they lay in the wrong order. Frowning, he leafed through the stack. He was the one who had put the documents back in the drawer last night, so why were they placed in a different order now?

When he stood there, parchments in hand, Yasmin entered the office. She smiled and walked up to him.

"Good morning."

"Hey."

She looked at the parcments Bill were holding. "What've you got there?"

"Just some documents from my drawer."

Even though Yasmin worked with him he knew that it was better not to mention his suspicions. It was not that he didn't trust her; you just never knew if someone would overhear them and report to someone on the Dark side. That was one of the drawbacks with the war; you never really knew who you could trust.

"Nothing important then?"

"No, not really."

Yasmin went over to her desk and sat down. Bill glanced at her as she placed her bag on the floor beside it. She seemed tired again, and he felt sorry for her. The war must really take its toll on her, and he wished he could do something to cheer her up.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's getting better."

"Glad to hear that. You know I'm here if you want to talk."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks. It means a lot to me."

"That's what friends are for."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Charlie looked around the room where he and Louise had spent the last half hour setting up chairs facing a small podium.

"You think someone'll show up?" she asked.

"Hope so. People said they would."

As if on cue seven people appeared out of nowhere, holding an old football. It took a few seconds, but eventually everyone was on their feet looking around.

"What is this place?" one of them asked.

Charlie cleared his throat to get their attention, and the seven people turned around to face him and Louise.

"We're in an unplottable place near Stradă Bazilisc."

"Are there others coming as well?"

"We hope so."

And more people did come. Charlie guessed that there finally must have been about a hundered or more gathered, including Walter and the bosses for the other nationalities.

The first one he and Louise had told about You-Know-Who was Walter. He didn't need much convincing before promising to talk to the others in charge of the other nationalities, and they had promised to talk to their teams. They had also spent much time talking to their own teammates, and as far as Charlie could see, he had actually managed to convince most of them that You-Know-Who had really come back.

Walter rose. "I guess you all know why we're here. I'll pass the floor over to Mr. Charles Weasley, since he has more information on the matter than I do."

Charlie got to his feet. "Hello everybody. I'm Charlie Weasley. To those in my team I want to say sorry for pestering you about this meeting like I have, and to the rest of you; thanks very much for coming. By now I guess that you have heard that You-Know-Who has returned; otherwise you wouldn't be here. The reason why we have called together this meeting, is because we need your help."

"Who's 'we'?" a blond witch Charlie had never seen asked. From the sound of her accent he decided that she must be from Finland.

"The Light side," he replied. "We need people abroad, as many as possible."

"But are we even sure that You- Know-Who is back?" another wizard asked. "We don't have any proof, do we?"

Charlie had expected that reaction. "Harry Potter has seen him."

There was a few seconds stunned silence.

"How do you know that?"

"When? Where?"

"No way, that can't be true."

Charlie felt that this was the apropriate time to interrupt. "Please calm down, and I'll explain everything. I don't know if you're familiar with the Triwizard Tournament. It is a competition between three wizarding schools here in Europe, and this year it was the first time in over a hundered years that it was held. The tournament at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ended a few weeks ago."

"But what does this tournament have to do with He Who Must Not Be Named?"

"I will come to that. As some of you already know Harry Potter attends Hogwarts, and on the day of the third task he was Portkeyed to a churchyard together with Cedric Diggory, the other champion competing for Hogwarts." Charlie knew how it must sound, but he had to tell the truth. "There a group of Death Eaters and You-Know-Who waited for them. He killed Cedric and tried to kill Harry, but he got away and managed to Portkey himself and Cedric back to Hogwarts."

Charlie fell silent, and looked out over the room. Most people were sitting in stunned silence, while others whispered amongst themselves.

"And 'ow iz et that one such as you has come to know these?" a French wizard asked. He studied Charlie as if to try and determine wether he was lying or not.

"My youngest brother goes to Hogwarts, and he's friends with Harry."

"Harry, as in Harry Potter?" a witch in one of the back rows asked.

"Yes."

"But how do we know that he's telling the truth?" the same witch asked. "He might just be after pubicity."

Charlie couldn't hold back a chuckle. The mere thought of Harry being publicity hungry was laughable. "I assure you, ma'am, that Harry isn't the least bit publicity hungry."

Now a witch in the third row stood up. First she looked at Chrlie and then around at the others. "But let's say that You-Know-Who really _is_ back. What are we supposed to do?"

"Well," Charlie said, glad that he was prepared for this question, "first of all we need to know how many at the reserve are interested in joining the Light side. We need people with all sorts of skills. Meditrained witches and wizards will be useful, and also those with knowledge in potions. We'll also need spies and messengers too, and I'm sure I have forgotten something."

"But why haven't our Ministries informed us about this?" the same witch asked.

"Because they won't believe that He is back," Charlie explained. "Harry and Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster, have tried to talk to Mr Fudge, the English Minister of Magic, but he refuses to listen."

"Well, if he doesn't he must have good reason not to."

A black-haired wizard rose, and turned to the witch whose question Charlie just had answered. "But what if Harry and this Headmaster is right? What if You-Know-Who is back? Then we're all in danger."

The witch eyed him. "I'm sure my family has nothing to worry about. We're purebloods, and he'll know that."

"Don't be too sure about that. He might go after everyone who's not on the Dark Side."

"No, you really think so? He didn't last time, did he?"

"No, but it might be different this time. We don't know what he's planning."

"So you believe that he's back?" a short witch with black hair asked, addressing the previous speaker.

"Yes. It was only really a matter of time, wasn't it? Come on, a wizard as powerful as that doesn't just... die."

Now one of Charlie and Louise's team mates rose. "I for one am not staying here for much longer. I'm going home to my family!"

This comment was immediately responded to by yet another wizard Charlie had never seen. He looked as if he could have come from Greece or Turkey. "Ah, but maybe this is a good thing that he is returned. The last time, this You-Know-Who, he did not bother us to tolerate outsiders or no. Perhaps he has changed. We must give him the opportunity to show us first, is this not correct?"

Charlie and Louise's team mate shook his head vigorously. "No way! I'm not staying until it's too late."

"But he might have changed now."

Charlie cleared his throat. "Excuse me. I'm sorry to disappoint you, sir, but he has not changed at all. Why else would he kill Cedric and try to kill Harry?"

The Greek wizard turned to Charlie. "Perhaps he is trying to kill this Potter because _he_ tried to kill him those many years ago? What if he will stop with the killing after he gets the boy? It would be a small prize to pay for the safety of the Wizarding world."

Charlie shook his head, appaled by what the wizard had said. He exchanged a glance with Louise, who arched an eyebrow. "I don't think he will stop. He is too greedy to make do with just killing Harry."

Louise rose. "Charlie's right. If anything I think You-Know-Who will be even worse than before. He'll want revenge on Harry, and he won't care how many he'll have to kill to get what he wants. And what I think he wants, is power. He wants what he once had, more than that, at any cost."

Charlie sent a thankful thought to Louise, knowing that she was probably right. Why would He be satisfied with killing Harry? If he managed to kill the boy there was nothing stopping him from rising to power once again. Being who he was, You-Know-Who was bound to have revenge on his mind, not only on Harry. The Wizarding world was in danger, and Charlie wanted to take part in the fight.

When the meeting finally ended it was almost two o' clock in the morning. Louise and Charlie took one of the Portkeys back to the reserve, and went to bed.

"I think it went quite well," Louise said sleepily.

"Yeah. Remember that we have to contact the Order tomorrow, to have some of them watched."

"Later today, you mean?"

"Details." Charlie bent over her and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Good night."

"Night."

Louise was on her broom, flying towards Ireland. She was on a mission to see the Druids, and truth be told she was getting nervous. She had never done anything like this before, and was sure that she would fail. But it was Order work, and it had to be done. That it meant going back to Ireland for a couple of days was a bonus. She would stay with Elfrida, which she was looking forward to.

After a couple of hours in the air she descended, and once she was under the clouds she saw Ireland. The Green Island. It lay like a green quilt under her, and she smiled. Ireland would always be special to her. Home.

Louise landed in a secluded spot south of Dublin, and gathered her broom and bag before Apparating in the small kitchen of a house. She rapped herself hard on the head with her wand, and felt the DisillusionmentCharm wear off.

"Elfrida?"

She didn't get any answer, and decided to check the other rooms. She didn't find Elfrida, but to her relief she saw that everything looked like she remembered. It gave her a reassuring feeling, and she smiled to herself. It was nice being back in Ireland, and it would be even better to see Elfrida again; the woman who had raised her.

After establishing that she wasn't anywhere inside, Louise went out into the small garden on the backside of the house. There she found a figure on her hands an knees, weeding.

"Elfrida, hi."

The old woman looked up, and her face broke into a big smile before getting to her feet. She wiped her hands on her apron before giving Louise a hug. "It's lovely to see you again, dear!"

"It's great to see you too."

"Come on, let's get you settled." Elfrida led her back through the small house. "Not much have changed here, I'm afraid."

"So I see. But it's good that it hasn't. I've missed this place."

Elfrida walked into the guest room. "I thought you could sleep in here,"

"My old room!" Louise said happily and put her bag on the floor beside the bed. The room was small, like the other rooms in Elfrida's house, and a feeling of homecoming washed over her.

"Now that you're settled I thought I'd make some lunch."

"I'll help."

Louise followed Elfrida into the kitchen, and while they cooked she answered questions about how she had been since the last letter they had exchanged.

"And how's Charlie?" Elfrida asked eventually.

"He's great. He's in Transylvania, trying to get the vampires to join our side."

"I sure hope that he will succeed."

"Me too, we need as many on our side as possible."

"When will I meet this mysterious man?"

"I don't know. But I'll defenitely take him with me next time I come visit."

"I'm looking forward to meeting him. But now tell me, why are you here? You didn't say much when we fire-talked earlier."

"I know, sorry. I couldn't, in case someone was listening. I'm here to talk to the Druids and try and make them join the Light side."

Louise proceeded to tell Elfrida about what had happened at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. When she was done, Elfrida sighed.

"And I thought that he was gone."

"Yeah, didn't everybody," Louise replied.

"It's a good thing we've got Professor Dumbledore. But how did you get involved in this in the first place?"

"Charlie's family is involved, so I sort of got thrown in all of this because of that."

"Just be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry, I am careful. And nothing has happened, so I don't think there's any real danger just yet."

Elfrida pursed her lips. "You never know with the Dark side."

Had it not been for his assignment Charlie would have enjoyed his broom flight, but now he had other things on his mind. He was on his way to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula, and the mere thought of being surrounded by vampires was enough to send shivers of fear through him. Although he had been living in Romania for the past years he had never been to Transylvania, and with good reason. He didn't like the prospect of having his blood sucked, but now there was nothing he could do about it. He hadn't even protested when Dumbledore had asked him to try to make the vampires join the Light side. Because when Albus Dumbledore asked you to do something you did, no questions asked.

Tying the vampires to the Light side was very important since You-Know-Who would probably try and make them join him, and Charlie hoped that he hadn't already been there. But with his luck he probably had, and in that case he was sure that he was done for.

When the compass that was tied to his broom told him that he was close to his destination Charlie descended. And what met him was not a very encouraging sight. He saw a huge stone castle on the edge of a cliff, and shivered inwardly. He got a sudden urge to ignore his instructions and go back to the reserve, but it had to be done.

He laned on the courtyard, and noticed a tall, stocky figure standing by the large wooden doors of the castle.

"Who are you?" it asked. It's voice was hollow, almost icy.

_Calm down, breathe! It's not worse than your first Quidditch match. Yeah? Who're you trying to fool? Like a Quidditch match could be worse than this..._ "My name is Charles Weasley. I was sent here by Professor Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Welcome, Mr Weasley, we have been expecting you. Follow me please."

Charlie shivered as he entered the castle, met by its chilly atmosphere. And suddenly a thought hit him; he was alone in a castle full of vampires. He gulped, trying to push those thoughs aside as he followed the creature through the castle. After a few minutes they stopped in front of a double door, and Charlie took a deep breath as they opened. At the far end of the large room someone was sitting on a kind of throne. When Charlie got a closer look at him he saw that it was a thin, pale man with long, black hair. He gulped.

"Sir," his guide said, "Mr Charles Weasley. Mr Weasley, Count Dracula."

Dracula bowed his head slightly. "Please step forward."

As Charlie walked through the room he felt the assembled vampires eye him. He wondered if he should look at them or not, and decided not to. Instead he looked straight ahead, feeling his heart race even more than when he had been standing outside the door.

As he was standing in front of the chair the Count started talking.

"We have been expecting you."

His voice was soft but it had a dangerous edge to it that almost made Charlie look away.

"You must have heard that the Dark Lord is back," he started, trying not to let his insecurity show.

"Yes. We were told so by Professor Albus Dumbledore."

"He thinks that you will be useful in the war against You-Know-Who. That is why I have come here on Professor Dumbledore's behalf, to ask if you will be willing to help us."

Dracula eyed him in a way Charlie thought almost predatory, and he had to use all his will power to not stop looking at the man in front of him.

"Why does he think that it would be useful to have us on your side?"

Charlie had expected that question. "Well... the more people we can tie to us, the less people the Dark Lord can tie to the Dark side."

There was a mumble amongst the assembled figures, and Charlie waited until they were quiet again. "We understand if you need some time to think this through."

"What is in it for us?" Dracula asked.

_Here goes nothing._ "Well, you will be living here in Transylvania, in peace. We will make sure that no one will disturb you like before, and that your reputation will improve. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"What if we would like to join the Dark Lord?" Dracula asked. "What if he has already been here and proposed us an offer? And what if we do not want our reputation to improve?"

"Then I ask you to still consider our offer. Of course it is up to you, but if you help us, I am sure that people will look differently upon you."

"What will be expected of us if we join your side?"

"Well... Professor Dumbledore thinks that you will be useful as spies, since you are used to moving around in darkness. I'm sure he can find other tasks for you as well, but that was what he asked me to tell you."

Dracula nodded. "Very well. We will consider your offer. Professor Dumbledore shall have the answer by tomorrow noon at the latest."

"Would you like me to stay until you have come to a decision?"

"No, that will not be necessary. We will contact him when we have reached a decision."

Relieved Charlie exhaled. At least he wouldn't have to stay the night at this horrible place.

As if the Count had read his mind, he said, "Now if you'll excuse us. You will be escorted back to the castle entrance."

"It was good of you to let me come and talk to you," Charlie said as the man who had met him stepped up to him.

The count smiled slightly. "Let us just say that the good Professor can be convincing."

Nothing more was said. Charlie followed the man out of the castle, and as he, relieved, kicked off from the ground he filled his lungs with fresh air.

Louise was nervous, but tried not to let it show. But she wouldn't be surprised if the Druids could feel it anyway.

"Er... is everyone here?"

Several nods affirmd this.

"Good. Thank you so much for coming. I presume that Professor Dumbledore has told you that I have something important to tell you, so I need you to listen to what I have to say."

When she had shared her news there was a slience, and she could sense the shock of the assembled Druids.

"If the news come from Professor Albus Dumbledore himself it must be true," the High Priest said eventually.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is true. And we need people on our side to fight You-Know-Who," Louise explained, "Professor Dumbledore thinks that you will be able to help us."

"But he does understand that this request requires careful consideration?"

"Yes, he does. But he would like you to have made a decison by tomorrow night."

"I do not think that this require much time. Give us a few hours and we will give you our decision."

"Where do you want me to wait?"

"Outside." The High Priest motioned towards the doors. "Someone will come and get you when we are done."

Louise was escorted outside, and sat down on a bench under a tree. There she remained for four hours, until one of the Druids came to get her. She was taken back to the hall where she had talked to them earlier, and the High Priest beckoned her to step closer.

"We have now discussed the matter, and we have reached a decison."

Louise felt her heart beat a little bit faster, and hoping they would say yes, she mentally crossed her fingers.

"We know what damage the Dark Lord caused during the last war, and we don't want that to happen again. Therefore, we have decided to join the Light side."

_Yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!_

"However, we will not participate in any fights," the High Priest continued. "Druids do not believe in fighting. But we want to know if Professor Dumbledore thinks we can be of service in any other way. If so we will be happy to join the battle against The Dark Lord."

"I will talk to the Professor about that, and see what he says."

"Excelent. Well, I believe that this was all. Talk to the Professor about our offer, and ask him to contact us as soon as possible."

Louise nodded. "I will. Someone will contact you again, and thank you so much for doing this."

When Bill and Yasmin entered Grimmauld Place Bill immediately sensed that something was not right, and as Remus came to greet them his fears were confirmed.

"Have you heard what's happened?" was the first thing he said, trying to make himself hear over Mrs Black's ranting.

Bill shook his head, trying to swallow the lump of worry that had made its way up to his throat. "No."

Remus ushered them further into the house. "You-Know-Who showed himself at the Ministry last night, with a group of Death Eaters. Ron, Harry, Hermione and some of their friends from Hogwarts were there too. Harry thought Sirius was in trouble, but it turned out to be one of You-Know-Who's tricks. He just wanted Harry to come and pick up a prophecy that involved the two of them, but his plan didn't work out. Dumbledore came just in time, and You-Know-Who fled. And now no one knows where he is."

Bill's first reaction was that he had one thing or another to say to Ron and his friends. Why had they followed Harry to the Ministry in the first place? It was pure luck that they had been saved by Dumbledore. If he had not shown up there was no telling what could have happened, and the more Bill thought about it the more relieved he was that his old Headmaster had been there.

"But why did he choose the Ministry? Is Sirius all right?"

Remus swallowed. "He... died," he said in a voice that cracked slightly.

"What! How..."

Remus swallowed. "His cousin Andromeda hit him with a curse, and he fell through a veil."

"That's..." Bill couldn't find any suiting word. He hadn't known Sirius particularly well, but it still came as a shock. "I'm so sorry Remus." He wished he could say something else, but what could he say to one who had just lost the second of his best friends?

"Me too," Remus answered solemnly before turning and walking upstairs. Bill looked after him, before being brought back to reality by Yasmin.

"Who was that?"

"Remus Lupin, an Order member."

"And Sirius?"

"A friend of his. Also a member. We should go find Mum and Dad, come on."

Bill led her through the house until they found his parents in the kitchen. Many other Order members had already arrived.

"Finally!" his mum exclaimed as they entered. "Did you hear what happened?"

"Yes, Remus told us. Where are Ron and the others?"

"They're back at Hogwarts. None of them were seriously injured, nothing that Madame Pomfrey can't cure. But Tonks, and some others who were injured, are at St. Mungos."

Bill let out a shaky breath that he did not realise he had been holding. At least they were all right. "And no one knows where You-Know-Who went?"

His dad shook his head. "No. No one will find him unless he wants to be found. By the way, shouldn't you introduce us to your friend?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, sorry. This is Yasmin, a new Order member. She works with me at Gringotts."

"Yes, of course! Professor Dumbledore mentioned you, welcome to the Order. I'm Mr Weasley, Bill's father, and this is my wife Mrs Weasley."

Yasmin smiled brightly as she shook hands with Bill's parents. "It's good to finally meet you, Bill has told me so much about you. We worked together in Egypt."

"How's Remus taking it?" Bill asked once the little greeting ceremony was over.

"I don't think he has realised that Sirius is gone," his dad said, his smile suddenly gone.

Bill sighed. "Poor Remus. First James and now Sirius."

"Where is he now?"

"He went upstairs when he had talked to me and Yasmin, so I guess he's in either his or Sirius' room."

Half an hour later dinner was served, and there was still no sign of Remus. During the meal everyone was unusually quiet. Sirius was the first on the Light side to die, and even though Bill never knew him very well he was affected by his death. It was like a sign, saying that now things were for real.


End file.
